Video Beach Monitoring of Shoreline Change ("Cam-Era")
1. Identification information
Status
Ongoing
Data Collection Date
1997-present
Summary
Computer-controlled video cameras monitor the environment (for data collection and research) while simultaneously providing images for beach-goers, such as surfers and swimmers. A series of cameras has been established since this project started in August 1997. There are three cameras on the Coromandel coast, overlooking Tairua and Pauanui Ocean Beaches.
The sand spit at Mokau is experiencing significant long-term coastal erosion. Cameras were placed at Mokau Spit to monitor changes in the beach and river mouth/bar. A Master of Science study was initiated to utilise images gathered to isolate the natural processes controlling spit dynamics and the time scales over which they occur.
Data was collected at Mokau from 1999 until 2007.
In 2007 a new camera site (two cameras) was established at Raglan.
Each hour, cameras at Pauanui, Tairua and Raglan automatically collect images which are then archived (for subsequent research purposes) and placed on the Web for public use.
The cameras provide data for research into beach processes. The images can also be used for monitoring beach state, shoreline position, beach use, wave conditions, bar conditions and rip currents. The project is a collaboration between Waikato Regional Coucnil and NIWA.
Content
Every hour during daylight time, 600 images (one every second for 10 minutes) are taken. The first of the 600 is saved as an individual image and posted on the website. The 600 images are averaged and saved as one image, which is also archived.
Study Types
- Monitoring
Categories
- Coastal Hazards
- Shoreline Change
2. Contact information
Commissioning Agencies
- Environment Waikato
- Waikato Regional Council
Contact Organisations
- NIWA (Hamilton)
- Waikato Regional Council
3. Spatial information
Geographic Coverage
Two cameras at Pauanui (north and south end), one on Paku Hill overlooking Tairua Ocean Beach. Two cameras at Mokau (one camera looking over river mouth and offshore bars, the other along the foreshore - site disestablished in 2007). Raglan (two cameras) established in 2007.
Grid Coordinates
Locations
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NameMokau ForeshoreNZMG Easting2650587NZMG Northing6277033LocationAwakino River to Mokau RiverWest Coast
-
NameMokau River MouthNZMG Easting2650638NZMG Northing6276564LocationMokau RiverWest Coast
-
NameTairua Paku HillNZMG Easting2765416NZMG Northing6462685LocationMercury Bay to Tairua Harbour (including Tairua Ocean Beach)East Coast
-
NamePauanui SouthNZMG Easting2765965NZMG Northing6459771LocationTairua to WharekawaEast Coast
-
NamePauanui NorthNZMG Easting2765218NZMG Northing6462005LocationTairua to WharekawaEast Coast
-
NameRaglan Open CoastNZMG Easting0NZMG Northing0LocationWest Coast
-
NameRaglan Harbour MouthNZMG EastingNZMG NorthingLocationWest Coast
4. Data acquisition information
Collection Date
Tairua Camera: August 1997 - present
Pauanui A & B: December 2000 - present
Mokau A & B: June 1999 - 2007
Raglan A & B: 2007 - present.
Mokau RTK-GPS survey 22/12/03, 22/03/04, 5/07/04 and 15/12/04.
Methodology
Images are collected hourly and displayed on the Waikato Regional Council website and NIWA website. See links below.
Cameras at the remote sites are mounted on poles or on buildings overlooking the monitoring site. The cameras have rain hoods and lens-washers to improve image quality. Each site must have a power supply, a computer to control the system and a phone connection so that it can communicate with the base station in Hamilton. The Mokau site has the remote computer housed in the Mokau museum away from the camera, with a radio link connecting the two. Further details are given at NIWA link below.
5. Data quality information
Known Limitations
There are a number of image processing techniques required to make use of the image for many purposes, including:
Averaging: Some information that can be obtained from the images is not apparent from an individual image. For example, to find the position of the shorlein or offshore sand bars (from breaking wave patterns), 16 minutes of images (600 images) are taken every hour an can be averaged. In the resulting image, the average shoreline and average position of the bar become clearly visible.
Rectification: the rectification routine takes an oblique image and converts it to a plan view by mathematical transformation using the orientation and position of the camera. Once the oblique images are rectified, the images become the equivalent of a vertical aerial photograph, which allows direct scaling of features such as high water marks and rip currents.
Lens distortions: for detailed measurements (e.g. measuring wave parameters) distortions caused by imperfections in the glass and the way the surface is shaped need to be corrected. These distortions have been corrected using freely available software written by Janne Heikkila at the University of Oulu, Finland (Heikkila and Silven 1996).
There are occasional gaps in the data when cameras or housings have been damaged.
Complicated aspects of data quality are available in the many publications listed here.
Some gaps are present in the data record due to equipment failure and camera maintenance.
Some images at Mokau are of poor quality due to light levels, sun angle and the quality of the radio link.
6. Distribution information
Format
Digital images, including individual and averaged images. Averaged images are also rectified and may be available in some cases - contact NIWA.
Applications
Coastal processes research and beach monitoring.
Availability
Not confidential but contact data owners
7. Status information
Data Status
Study ongoing as described above
8. Metadata information
General Notes
Cameras at Raglan, Tairua and Mokau owned by Waikato Regional Council.
Cameras at Pauanui owned by NIWA.
Related Links
Publications
- Bogle, J., 2000: Video imaging techniques for quantitative data on bathymetry, wave period, and rips, and qualitative analysis of beach dynamics. University of Waikato thesis.
- Bogle, J.A., K.R. Bryan, K.P. Black, T.M. Hume and T.R. Healy (2001). Video Observations of Rip Formation and Evolution, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue 34, 117-127.
- Bryan, K. R. and A. Swales (2003). Inferring bar position from video imagery of breaking waves at Tairua Beach, New Zealand, Coasts and Ports '03, Proceedings of the 16th Australasian Coastal and Ocean Engineering conference and the 97th Australasian Port and Harbour Conference, Sept 9-12, Auckland, New Zealand, paper #20.
- MacDonald, I.T., K.R. Bryan and R.M. Gorman(2000). " Measuring surfzone width from video images of beaches", Abstract in Programme & Abstracts, August 30-September 1, Hamilton, New Zealand, New Zealand Marine Science Society Conference, p55.
- Bryan, K.R., I.T. MacDonald, and R.M. Gorman (2000). "Deriving robust methods for measuring wave frequency and angle using video imagery of waves", Abstract in Programme & Abstracts, August 30-September 1, Hamilton, New Zealand, New Zealand Marine Science Society Conference, p25.
- Gorman, R.M. and K.R. Bryan (2000). "How video distilled the wayward bar: image analysis at the beach with empirical eigenfunctions", Abstract in Programme & Abstracts, August 30 - September 1, Hamilton, New Zealand, New Zealand Marine Science Society Conference, p38.
- Bogle, J.A., K.R. Bryan, K.P. Black, T.M. Hume and T.R. Healy (2000). "Video Observations of Rip Formation and Evolution", Abstract in: Conference Program and Abstracts, April 24-28, Rotorua, New Zealand, International Coastal Symposium, p103.
- Bryan, K.R., R.M. Gorman, T.M. Hume and K.P. Black (1999). "A method for making detailed measurements of cusp spacing using sub-aerial video cameras", Abstract in: Programme and Abstracts, September 1-3, Wellington, New Zealand Marine Sciences Society Conference, p33.
- Bryan, K. R., R. K. Smith and R. Ovenden (2003). The use of video camera to assess beach volume change between April and June 2001 at Tairua, New Zealand. Coasts and Ports '03, Proceedings of the 16th Australasian Coastal and Ocean Engineering conference and the 97th Australasian Port and Harbour Conference, Sept 9-12, Auckland, New Zealand, paper #19..
- Bogle, J.A., K.R. Bryan, K.P. Black, T.M. Hume and T.R. Healy (1999). "Observations of rip currents using video images", Abstract in: Programme and Abstracts, September 1-3, Wellington, New Zealand Marine Sciences Society Conference, p27.
- Bryan, K.R., T.M. Hume and G. Payne (2000). The Cam-Era Final Report, prepared for The Ministry for the Environment, NIWA Client Report, MFE00212, 29pp.
- Hume, T.M., G.W. Payne and K.R. Bryan (1999). Cam-Era Product Development Workshop, prepared for The Ministry for the Environment, NIWA Client Report, MFE00212, 8pp.
- Payne, G., S. Stephens, K. R. Bryan, P. Hesp and B. Gibberd, 2003, New Zealand's Sandy Coasts, produced by National-Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd., a peer-reviewed CDrom teaching resource
- Bogle, J.A., K.R. Bryan, K.P. Black, T.M. Hume and T.R. Healy (1999). Observations of geomorphic parameters using video images, Coasts and Ports '99, vol I, Proceedings of the 14th Australasian Coastal and Ocean Engineering conference and the 7th Australasian Port and Harbour Conference, April 14-16, Perth, Australia, 70-75.
- Smith, R.K., and K.R. Bryan. Monitoring Beach Volume Using a Combination of Intermittent Profiling and Video Imagery. Journal of Coastal Research. Submitted in November, 2002.
- Hume, T.M., G.W. Payne, K.R. Bryan and K.P. Black (1999). The Cam-Era Network, NIWA Internal Report #59, 18pp.
- Needham, B. 2005: The variation in river mouth dynamics, spit and shoreline morphology at Mokau. Master of Science Thesis, University of Waikato.
- Morris, B.D., Coco, G., Bryan, K.R., and Turner, I.L., Video-derived mapping of estuarine evolution, Journal of Coastal Research, SI50 (ICS2007), (in press).
- Salmon, S.A., Bryan, K.R., and Coco, G., The use of video systems to measure run-up on beaches, Journal of Coastal Research, SI50 (ICS2007), (in press).
- Stephens, S., Rickard, D., Bryan, K.R., Gorman, R., and Coco, G. (2007). Forecasting rip currents at Tairua Beach (New Zealand), Proceedings of Coasts and Ports 2007, in press.
- Coco, G., Payne, G., Bryan, K.R., Rickard, D. Ramsay, D., and T. Dolphin, T., (2006), The use of imaging systems to monitor shoreline dynamics, Proceedings of the 1st ArabianCoast Conference, Dubai (in press).
- Coco, G., Bryan, K.R., Green, M.O., Ruessink, B.G., Turner, I.L., and van Enckevort, I.M.J., (2005), Video observations of shoreline and sandbar coupled dynamics, Proceedings of Coasts and Ports 2005, Adelaide, 471-476.
- Gorman, R., Bryan, K.R., and Coco, G., (2006), Video observations of the evolution of nearshore bars – an application of complex 2-D empirical orthogonal functions, American Geophysical Union 2006.
- Hume, T.M., Coco, G., Green, M.O., Murray, A.B., Trembanis, A., and McNinch, J., (2005), Stratigraphic evidence of sorted bedform evolution, American Geophysical Union 2005.
- Coco, G., Bryan, K.R., Ruessink, B.G., and Turner, I.L. (2004) Observations of shoreline and sandbar dynamics on a pocket beach, American Geophysical Union 2004.
- Gallop, S.L. 2009: Rip current dynamics on an embayed beach. MSc Thesis, University of Waikato.
- Smith, R.K. and Bryan, K.R. 2007: Monitoring beach face valume with a combination of intermittent profiling and video imagery. Journal of Coastal Research, Vol 23(4), ps 892-898.
- Bryan, K. R., Davies-Campbell, J., Hume, T.M., Gallop S.L. 2019:The Influence of Sand Bar Morphology on Surfing Amenity at New Zealand Beach Breaks. Journal of Coastal Research. 2019 Special Issue, Vol. 87, p44-54. 11p.
Related Publications
Related Datasets
9. Related files
No files have been attached to this dataset