COASTAL STABILITY ON THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN COASTLINES OF STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK

Staten Island is New York City's second smallest borough and has experienced rapid urbanization after the construction of the Verrazano Bridge in the 1960’s. The vulnerability of Staten Island's coastal zone was made abundantly clear during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, resulting in the deaths of 23 residents. Utilizing Google Earth Engine Landsat data was obtained between 1990 and 2016, and the coastlines were classified and extracted for each year in ArcGIS. Utilizing the USGS Digital Shoreline Analysis System Extension, the Net Shoreline Movement and Linear Regression Rate was determined for the Eastern and Southern Coastlines on Staten Island along equally spaced transects. The Eastern Coastline is eroding at a rate of 1.62 m/yr determined by the linear regression and moved inland at an average of 13.25 m for each transect between the years analyzed. The Southern Coastline is accreting seaward at a rate of 0.42 m/yr determined by the linear regression, and moved towards the ocean at an average of 26.28 m for each transect between the years analyzed. Future work is being geared towards understanding coastline changes for individual neighborhoods on the Eastern and Southern Coastlines to provide residents and city officials with current information on coastline stability to guide future efforts in protecting infrastructure in vulnerable coastal regions.