The installation of a photo cradle on the steps leading to and from East Campus Beach in Santa Barbara County is part of a global project aimed at monitoring coastal changes. Funded by a research grant from the California Ocean Protection Council, this initiative, led by UC Santa Barbara Marine Science Institute researcher Kyle Emery, is an extension of the CoastSnap project developed in Australia. The goal of this project is to engage citizen scientists in documenting changes in beach width over time.
The cradle allows beachgoers to easily take photos from a consistent height and angle, which can then be uploaded to the CoastSnap app. This creates a collection of images that show how the shoreline on the campus’s east side changes over time, providing valuable data for coastal researchers and resource managers. With the high traffic location of East Campus Beach, there will be a large number of images to sort through, allowing for detailed analysis of coastal events and attributes.
The dynamic nature of East Campus Beach presents challenges for monitoring coastal changes due to its fluctuating sandy shoreline and exposure to high tides and storm surges. By capturing images over a long period, researchers can track how the water’s edge moves over time, providing insights into long-term processes like sea level rise. The photos uploaded to the app will complement the data collected by the campus’s coastal researchers, creating a valuable time series of coastal changes that will inform future research and management decisions related to coastal resources.
