Beach Erosion: Esplanade Drive in Pacifica, California from 1997 to 1998

  • Released Friday, January 1, 1999
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During the 1997 to 1998 El Niño season, California's coastlines were hit by major beach erosion causing millions of dollars in damage.

An animation showing the erosion of the beach near Esplanade Drive in Pacifica, California during the El Niño season from 1997 to 1998, from airborne laser altimetry data. At the end of the animation, the image dissolves to an actual photograph from 1998

Visualization of 1997 Esplanade Drive looking eastward

Visualization of 1997 Esplanade Drive looking eastward

Visualization of 1998 Esplanade Drive looking eastward

Visualization of 1998 Esplanade Drive looking eastward

Photograph of the northern coast of Pacifica, CA. (Photograph courtesy of the USGS.)

Photograph of the northern coast of Pacifica, CA. (Photograph courtesy of the USGS.)

Photograph of the southern coast of Pacifica, CA. (Photograph courtesy of the USGS.)

Photograph of the southern coast of Pacifica, CA. (Photograph courtesy of the USGS.)

Video slate image reads, "Esplanade Beach Mapping:1997-1998 erosion of Esplanade Dr., Pacifica, CA. Laser Altimeter data shows the erosion and dissolves to an actual final photograph of Esplanade Drive. This data contains the small beaches at the base of the cliffs."

Video slate image reads, "Esplanade Beach Mapping:
1997-1998 erosion of Esplanade Dr., Pacifica, CA. Laser Altimeter data shows the erosion and dissolves to an actual final photograph of Esplanade Drive. This data contains the small beaches at the base of the cliffs."

For More Information

See http://www.usgs.gov/public/press/public_affairs/press_releases/pr460m.html

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Friday, January 1, 1999.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:59 PM EDT.

Series

This visualization can be found in the following series:

Datasets used in this visualization

  • Topography [Airplane: Airborne Topographic Mapper]

    ID: 232
    Sensor: Airborne Topographic Mapper Dates used: 1997/10/12, 1997/10/13, 1998/04/15, 1998/04/18
    See all pages that use this dataset

Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.