The Importance of Coastal Observations to Activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Abstract

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is a project-oriented agency with multiple national missions under its Civil Works program including navigation, hydropower, flood risk management, ecosystem restoration, water supply, regulatory authority for wetlands and U.S. waters, recreation, and disaster preparedness and response. The Corps ocean and coastal activities revolve around the design, construction, and maintenance of specific projects such as channel dredging, coastal protection, beach nourishment, and harbor construction, all requiring research, modeling, and observations. Several Corps activities contribute ocean observations to the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS^®) and have requirements for existing or planned IOOS observations. Collected observations include long-term coastal wave climate, water levels, and coastal mapping data information. These provide project-specific and regional data that are used to develop and verify numerical models which are extensively used in project design and to evaluate project costs, benefits, and associated risk. An overview of the Corps coastal activities, data collection, and modeling programs is provided along with information regarding how IOOS coastal and ocean data are being used by the Corps.