3.5- Qualitative And Quantitative skills in coastal landscapes Flashcards
Coastal landscapes provide a wealth of opportunity to employ a range of observational and measurement techniques to collect quantitative data such as:
- characteristics of waves e.g. identifying constructive and destructive waves
- movement of material by LSD
- size an shape of beach sediment
- gradient of beaches and sand dunes
- wind direction and wind speed
- dimensions and characteristics of coastal landforms
- identify, measure and map coastal defences used along a stretch of coast
Quantitative investigations of local landscapes and systems can produce
A large amount of useful data that readily lends itself to manipulation and analysis, with a range of data presentation and statistical methods
Coastal fieldwork also produces quantitative data that is easily
Mapped using a range of geo-spatial mapping techniques to give a clear visual representation of the findings of the research
What qualitative data can be collected regarding the coast?
- In-depth interview schedules would be one way of engaging with the views of the population involved to inform the development of bottom-up solutions to future issues
- perhaps on a more local level, questionnaires and interviews could be used with coastal communities in the British Isles to assess the views of various stakeholders about any proposed sea defences for a particular stretch of coast- the qualitative results of such surveys could then be analysed alongside empirical data about factors such as financial cost and impacts on natural coastal processes to price thorough cost-benefit cost-benefit or SWAT analyses of any proposed coastal management schemes that include views of all stakeholders
How could a beach profile be measured?
- mark out a straight line transect from the shoreline to the back of the beach
-record length of transect and use a compass to note its orientation - its position should be recorded on a base map
- using a tape measure, data is collected at regular intervals up the beach e.g. every 5m
- ## always start at the water’s edge and work inland as the tide may begin to come in
How is beach profiling and sediment characteristics investigated?
- student 1 stands at seaward end of the transect with a ranging pole
- student 2 takes a second ranging pole further up the beach along the transect to the first break of slope
- tape measure used to measure the distance between the two poles
- student 1 uses a clinometer to measure the angle between the tops of the two ranging poles
- this process is repeated for every break of slope to the top of the beach
In order to investigate the impacts of wave action and LSD on the sorting of sediment on the beach, data could be collected while
- Measuring the gradient along a transect
- collecting data along each transect will also allow an analysis of how waves and tides sort material up the beach
- at each collection point a sample of at least 10 pebbles is selected
- a quadrat could be placed adjacent to the ranging pole and the pebbles selected from within it
- using a ruler, measure either the long axis of each pebble or multiple axes to give an average size (if the beach sediment is fine then a set of graduated sieves would be used to sort a sample of sediment from each quadrat to ascertain the average size of sediment at each site
What happens back in the classroom regarding findings?
- results can be analysed to draw conclusions about the characteristics of the beach from waters-edge to the top of the beach
- also the profile data can be used to calculate the cross-sectional area at each location, which could then give an assessment of how the amount of sediment at each location changes over time, to help draw conclusions about the effects of wave action and LSD (if data can only be collected on one visit, then an analysis of profile and sediment data fr each transect along the beach could also allow conclusions to be drawn about the effects of wave action and LSD
