Quantifying the Impact of Hurricane Harvey on Beach−Dune Systems of the Central Texas Coast and Monitoring Their Changes Using UAV Photogrammetry

Abstract

Historically, the Texas Gulf Coast has been affected by many tropical storms and hurricanes. The most recent severe impact was caused by Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in August 2017 on the central Texas coast. We evaluated the impact of Hurricane Harvey on the barrier islands of the central Texas coast, including San Jose Island, Mustang Island, and North Padre Island. We used public data sets, including 1 m resolution bare-earth digital elevation models (DEMs), derived from airborne lidar acquisitions before (2016) and after (2018) Hurricane Harvey, and sub-meter scale aerial imagery pre- and post-Harvey to evaluate changes at a regional scale. Shoreline proxies were extracted to quantify shoreline retreat and/or advance, and DEM differencing was performed to quantify net sediment erosion and accretion or deposition. Unmanned aerial vehicle surveys were conducted at each island to produce high-resolution (cm scale) imagery and topographic data used for morphological and change analyses of beaches and dunes at the local scale. The results show that Hurricane Harvey caused drastic local shoreline retreat, reaching 59 m, and significant erosion levels of beach−dune elements immediately after its landfall. Erosion and recovery processes and their levels were influenced by the local geomorphology of the beach−foredune complexes. It is also observed that local depositional events contributed to their post-storm rebuilding. This study aims to enhance the understanding of major storm impacts on coastal areas and help in future protection planning of the Texas coast. It also has broader implications for coastlines on Earth affected by major storms.