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Below is a false color image of the northern portion of Sullivans Island, where the colors on the image represent the data values — in this case, elevation. The term "false color" simply means that the image is not a photograph, and that you should use the colorbar on the image to interpret what the colors mean. The north extent of the island is erosional while the southern and central portion of the island is accretional or stable. Note the light blue semi-circle sand ridge just south of Breach Inlet. As a side note, Breach Inlet is subject to extremely strong and dangerous currents. You can make a similar image using the BeachMapper software application provided on the second volume of this CD-ROM set. For more information about the BeachMapper application, click here.
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Portable Document Format (PDF) maps have been created to show LIDAR data for South Carolina's beaches and islands. PDF maps will allow you to zoom in on the data and print the maps at better resolution. However, because of the intense density of the data, the PDF files will not draw properly from your browser. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader® software installed on your computer, you can view the maps by navigating to the pdf/islands directory on this CD-ROM and double click on a file. A directory of maps is available in the readme.txt file. Adobe Acrobat Reader software has been provided on this CD-ROM.
To learn more about PDF documents and installing the software need to view them, click here.
Sullivans Island, 4.3 miles long, is located between Charleston Harbor and Breach Inlet. The Charleston Harbor north jetty attaches to land on Sullivans Island and has caused the long-term erosion trend to be stable or accretional for much of the island. The exception is found at Breach Inlet where periodic shoal attachment can cause the shoreline at the northeastern end of Sullivans to be quite dynamic.
Fort Moultrie, located on the south end of the island overlooking the entrance to the Charleston Harbor, is the site of a famous Revolutionary War battle in which the Americans used palmetto logs as fortification. British cannonballs sank into the soft palmetto logs rather than shattering the structure while the American cannon fire made its target on the British ships. South Carolina is known as the Palmetto State in commemoration of this victory.
Occupation of Fort Moultrie through World War II has resulted in a good record of hurricanes and their impact on Sullivans Island. The island was completely submerged during Hugo, dunes were flattened and sand was transported to the interior. Earlier hurricanes caused similar damage. The entire island was inundated by 4 to 5 feet of water during a hurricane in 1833.
Beach profile surveys are conducted in the spring and fall at approximately 400 monitoring stations throughout the State of South Carolina. Various agencies participate in the beach profile collection, including The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), Coastal Carolina University, and the College of Charleston. The results of the surveys provide a snapshot of the beach face. Over time, these surveys can be compiled to determine if and how the profile of the beach is changing. Below is a map of the stations and a sample of the profiles that can be extracted from the data. The beach profile data compiled by OCRM is provided on the second volume of this CD-ROM set.
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| *South Carolina Department of
Health and Environmental Control Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management |
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For more information about South Carolina beach profiles see: South
Carolina's Annual State of the Beaches Report, April 1998,
SCDHEC OCRM, 1362 McMillian Ave. Suite 400, Charleston, SC 29405.
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