Instructions

Google EarthLinks to an external site.) where images taken at different times provide evidence of coastal erosion resulting from coastline modification by human activity, tsunami, hurricane damage to barrier islands and erosion of cliffs by wave activity and storms. See footnote about Google Earth below.

The procedure to follow mirrors that of Part C of the Coastal Processes exercise in Module 15. It entails using the search function to obtain images for the designated latitude and longitude and the time function in Google Earth (it appears as a clock in the bar of options – see Figure 1 below) to display images before and after key events. In addition this assignment follows the prior exercise in requiring that your answer to all of the questions in this exercise should be written to describe how the image helps explain the process or phenomenon that is the focus of each question. Hence, your answers should make explicit reference to the characteristics observed in the image for the chosen location as if it was being used as an illustration of the process or phenomenon in a textbook.

There are four sets of data to examine for this assignment:

1. Images from Banda Aceh, Indonesia (5° 33.5′ N, 95° 17′ E) from before and after the tsunami of December 26 2004.
2. Images from before and after the Japanese tsunami of March 11 2011 at Yuriage, Japan (38° 11′ N, 140° 57′ E), Yagawahama, Japan (38° 22′ N, 141° 29′ E) and Sunamori, Japan (39° 00′ N, 141° 38′ E).
3. Images related to Pea Island, a barrier island north of Cape Hatteras (35° 41′ 04″ N, 75° 28′ 58″W) Hatteras that was breached by Hurricane Irene in August 2011.
4. Images of the region of northern Senegal where the Senegal river flows into the Langue de Barbarie (15° 58′ N 16° 31′ W), which was breached on October 3 2003 to counter possible flooding – the original man-made breach was just 4 m wide.

Figure 1: Google Earth image of the Bloomington campus for 8/12/2007 showing the clock option and the navigation bar to select images from different dates.

Footnote:

The exercise employs Google Earth (
Google EarthLinks to an external site.), specifically Google Earth Pro, which cannot be accessed from the web but needs to be uploaded as a free application – the Pro version, which can be downloaded via the link entitled Older Versions (
Google Earth Pro (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) at the top of the Google Earth page, provides access to past images. (The requirement for access Google Earth (
Google EarthLinks to an external site.) was noted in
Technological Requirements for the course.)

Question 1 5 pts

Explain how the coastline of Banda Aceh was changed by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami making explicit use of images from Google Earth to illustrate your answer.

A strong answer will designate locations according to latitude & longitude in Google Earth that provide visual complements for the explanation of coastal erosion resulting from a tsunami. Specific reference will be made to aspects of the features in the image(s) – e.g. changes in barrier island and coastlines – that exemplify the process.

Question 2 5 pts

Explain how the coastlines at Yuriage, Japan, Sunamori, Japan, and Yagawahama, Japan, were changed by the 2011 Japanese tsunami making explicit use of images from Google Earth to illustrate your answer.

A strong answer will designate locations according to latitude & longitude in Google Earth that provide visual complements for the explanation of coastal erosion resulting from a tsunami. Specific reference will be made to aspects of the features in the images – e.g. changes in barrier island and coastlines – that exemplify the process.

Question 3 5 pts

Describe the process of rebuilding of coastal facilities since the 2011 Japanese tsunami based on the latest images in Google Earth for the regions affected at Yuriage, Yagawahama, and Sunamori.

A strong answer will designate locations according to latitude & longitude in Google Earth that provide visual complements for coastal rebuilding. Specific reference will be made to aspects of the features in the image(s) – e.g. restructuring and engineering works – that exemplify the process.

Question 4 5 pts

Explain the changes occurring to the barrier islands at Pea Island near Cape Hatteras associated with Hurricane Irene in 2011 and compare them with the changes occurring to the barrier island off Senegal breached by human engineering activity in 2003.

A strong answer will describe the feature of the two breaches (Pea Island and Langue de Barbarie) and how they both evolved over time. Specific reference will be made to aspects of the features in the image(s) – e.g. changes in barrier islands – that exemplify the process occurring.

Question 5 5pts

Bonus Question (5 bonus points)

Explain the differences in coastal erosion that by comparing images of erosion of barrier islands associated with the 2011 Japanese tsunami at Yuriage and Sunamori versus the erosion of Pea Island near Cape Hatteras associated with Hurricane Irene in 2011 and the man-made breach of the Langue de Barbarie barrier island in Senegal in 2003.

A strong answer will designate locations according to latitude & longitude in Google Earth that provide visual complements for the explanation of coastal erosion of barrier islands resulting from a major tsunami, a category 3 hurricane, and a man-made breach. Specific reference will be made to aspects of the features in the image(s) – e.g. changes in barrier islands – that exemplify the process.

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