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What is it?
The Coastal Conditions Monitoring System (‘CoastalCOMS’) is an automated observation system for coastal monitoring. The system is comprised of a shore-mounted video camera network and sophisticated image processing routines for analysis and display of coastal environment information.
What does it do?
CoastalCOMS provides comprehensive real-time and predictive information about beach and surf conditions. The real-time data includes offshore wave height, nearshore wave height, wind direction and strength, surf quality, beach state, beach usage and shoreline position. Combined with data from other sources, such as tide predictions and expert observations, the collected data is stored and used to train predictive algorithms for short-term forecasting of nearshore wave height and surf quality, beach state changes, and beach user risk.
CoastalCOMS addresses a need for readily accessible real-time and predictive information on beach and surf conditions. It is easily installed and provides coverage over wide areas of coastline while conveniently displaying the information at a single location.
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Who can use it?
Effective coastal management recognises the need to manage and plan for the long-term impacts of natural and human activities to protect coastal resources for future generations. Coastal management authorities require adequate and timely access to information on the health of the beach system in order to effectively manage the distribution of resources and to address community concerns regarding beach amenity and safety. A system which combines the wide array of ever-changing environmental parameters in one graphical display enables efficient communication of information to stakeholders and the public.
The information provided by CoastalCOMS is therefore especially useful for coastal councils, coastal management authorities, surf life saving organisations and lifeguards.
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Who developed it?
CoastalCOMS has been developed by researchers from the Griffith Centre for Coastal Management and the School of Information and Communication Technology at Griffith University in conjunction with Coastalwatch and Gold Coast City Council. The research has been supported by an Australian Research Council grant.
Effective coastal management depends on the ability to identify trends impacting on coastal resources and to implement strategies for sustainable management. Griffith Centre for Coastal Management research, conducted in conjunction with Coastalwatch, maintains a focus on long-term monitoring of coastal processes to support coastal planning and the coastal community.
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Wind, tides, UV ratings, air temps and outlook provided by