Historical shorelines used to calculate rate of shoreline change statistics for New York State coastal wetlands

This dataset includes New York State historical shoreline positions represented as digital vector polylines from 1880 to 2015. Shorelines were compiled from topographic survey sheets from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Historical shoreline positions can be used to assess the movement of shorelines through time. Rates of shoreline change were calculated in ArcMap 10.5.1 using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 5.0. DSAS uses a measurement baseline method to calculate rate of change statistics. Transects are cast from the reference baseline to intersect each shoreline, establishing measurement points used to calculate shoreline change rates. For wetland shorelines these rates can be interpreted as accretion or erosion.