Beach Monitoring Reports
The table shown here is derived from actual measurements of the beach sand elevation at typical points along East beach. The colours are used to provide an approximate indication of the sand level along the beach compared with historical levels. The range of sand levels and the values at which the colours change are shown in the colour legend at the bottom of the table.
The percentage represents the current sand height compared to the historical minimum and maximum heights ever measured at that location since 2013. These values are calculated from the measurements used to produce the profile charts that give additional information about the sand dynamics at that monitoring point.
Sand levels cycle up and down with some correlation to seasonal change and always with a response to storm surges so it is normal to see red squares appear in the 'Current' column of the table. At the next measurement cycle approximately 6 weeks later, that red data will now appear in the 'Previous' column of the table while the 'Current' column reflects the most recent sand level at that point.
The third column labelled '12 Mnths' shows the sand level that existed about one year ago.
These three columns give an overview of the sand level now, how it has changed since the previous measurement and how it compares to last year's results.
A positive number in a red square is usually not a concern but if the number is negative, it indicates that a new low sand level has been detected and further consideration of all the data at that point should be investigated.
Pea Soup and South Beach measurements carried out with Port Fairy schools -
29 February and 1 March 2024 Report
Date: Thursday 29 February and Friday 1 March
Monitoring Team: Peter Sanderson, Nick, Sue, Natasha, and sustainability teams from St Patiricks Primary School and Port Fairy Consolidated School
Analysis & Report: David Bills-Thompson, PFCG Technical Officer and Data Co-ordinator
Commentary:
Port Fairy Consolidated School carried out laser measurement at Pea Soup on Thursday 29 February and St Patrick's Parish Primary School measured South Beach on Friday March 1st. Links to charts of their measurements are below.
The QST paints a poor picture of the beach condition for the western end at Posts 21 and 22 but parts of the Dog Beach have gained sand and at 20m it's at 74% height.
I suggest the profile charts provide a more complete summary of each beach.
Remember the new protocol for post measurements requires the duplicate measurements to be noted on the data sheet. Each measurement at the post is a critical part of the whole profile measurement.
My thanks to the teams for their efforts. I have noted the team members, school and teachers names and the number of students in the Notes section of the spreadsheet which I will show at the next meeting.
The next measurements will be done in Term two when PFCS will measure South Beach and St Patrick's will measure at Pea Soup.
More information
Please contact us if you would like more detailed information.
We can provide:
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spread sheets of all data
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photos for each monthly measurement.