Futurecoast a DEFRA commissioned contract

In order to help guide the next round of Shoreline Management Plans, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the National Assembly for Wales (http://www.wales.gov.uk/index.htm) has collaborated in a study of the processes and geomorphology of the coastline of England and Wales. This study has become known as 'futurecoast'. The main objective was to undertake an outline coastal process and geomorphological study of each major coastal cell, to improve understanding of coastal processes and predict likely coastal evolution over the next 100 years.

"The futurecoast study was commissioned by DEFRA and carried out by a team, led by consultants Halcrow Group Ltd, over a period of approximately 21 months. The study provides predictions of coastal evolutionary tendencies over the next century, which are to be considered in the updating of SMPs and other Strategic Plans targeted at determining broad scale future coastal defence policy throughout the open coast shorelines of England and Wales."

The results are presented on a single interactive CD, which is supplemented by two further CDs containing oblique aerial photographs covering the entire open coast of England and Wales. The results of this project (Halcrow 2003) have recently been made available to selected organisations such as English Nature. Essentially it provides a linear view of the coastline of England and Wales at or around High Water. Included within it are assessments of the progression of the coastline based on maps of the location of the shoreline at different dates (derived from Ordnance Survey and Hydrographic Office data). These provide an indication of the way in which the coast is likely to react under different scenarios specifically in relation to the five generic policy options adopted by DEFRA as part of the development of Shoreline Management Plans.

Comment: Example screenshots from both the main CD and aerial CD are included in the Final Project Report, available via the DEFRA R&D pages. See "DEFRA funded projects" pages, follow the links from flood and coastal defence to Research & Development (Project Report CSG 15 available in Word format), FD2002: Prediction of Future Coastal Evolution for SMP Review see http://www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/research/futurecoast.htm.

References

Halcrow 2003. Futurecoast (3 CD set comprising reports and interactive map browser and two CDs with oblique aerial photography of the shoreline of England and Wales). Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.