Separating the land from the sea: image segmentation in support of coastal hazards research and community early warning systems
Total water level (TWL) at the shoreline is the key metric for assessing coastal flooding and erosion. Predictions of TWL are necessary for long-term coastal planning and early warning systems including the USGS/NOAA Total Water Level and Coastal Change Forecast (TWL&CC). However, TWL is both difficult to predict and difficult to measure. Various TWL measurement techniques including cross-shore arrays of pressure sensors and wire gauges have been used in the past, but these techniques are costly, time consuming and unlikely to be scaled up to a national scale such as would be required for a comprehensive validation of the USGS