Date: Sunday 5, October 2014
 

Monitoring Team: Mark, Ian & Max
 

Analysis & Report: David Bills-Thompson, PFCG Technical Officer and Data Co-ordinator

 

Commentary: Generally good news. There were small losses of sand at posts 1 and 2 and a significant loss at post 5. See Monthly Sand Height Summary 1014.pdf

 

Both posts 2 and 5 are showing a downward trend in sand height that has been occurring since January and April respectively. See Post Series Sand Height 1014.pdf. Hopefully the expected seasonal cycle of sand height will soon reverse this trend. Currently the lowest point on the beach is post 5, followed by 2, 7 and 4.

 

Post 8 is now the fifth lowest point and a significant improvement compared to last year. See also Transverse Profile Post 5 1014.pdf and Beach Profile 1014.pdf which emphasize the concern at post 5.

Sand movement near post 8 continues to be stable and the longitudinal sand profile inside the southern end of the WEDs shows scouring of the beach at the 50 m point to be not as deep but now extending further to within 15 m of post 8 behind the WEDs. See Longitudinal Profile Post 8 1014.pdf

Sand in front of the WEDs at post 8 is maintaining a good height compared to profiles measured last year. See Transverse Profile Post 8 1014.pdf

The Dune Toe chart shows a general reduction in toe distance and is probably associated with a dune collapse because of the corresponding increase in sand height at these locations. See Dune Toe 1014.pdf
 

Posts 11 and 12 currently have a dune toe (seasonal) so no attempt was made to measure profiles behind these posts. The requirement for dune profiles at 11 and 12 will be reviewed by the group and the measurement frequency probably reduced.

In a further attempt to clarify the charts which now contain a lot of data, I have drawn them using thin lines for historical data and a thick line for the current data. Having all the historical data available provides a better sense of how that parameter is behaving.