Authors: Heriberto Patino Luna

Mentors: Eric Compas, Juk Bhattacharyya

Abstract

The constant wave erosion along the Lake Michigan bluff line weakens the bluffs and triggers landslides that put nearshore residents at risk regarding infrastructure damage and potential loss of life. These risks can be mitigated by properly implementing bluff-protection structures. Performing site-specific assessments is the first step to accurately implementing these structures. I charted how previously installed structures have interacted with erosion processes to understand the bluff line’s long-term patterns.

To address this problem, I employed ArcGIS PRO software to analyze the Ozaukee County Lake Michigan bluff line’s Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). To gather the erosion and accretion data of the bluff line, I differentiated the DEMs from 2010 and 2015. Where there’s a loss in elevation, there’s erosion, and where there’s a gain in elevation, there’s accretion. To validate this data, I created profile line graphs from the DEMs of specific locations to analyze the elevation change further. Additionally, I gathered satellite imagery and created 3-D visualizations of the DEMs to assess the erosion and accretion visually. Ultimately, I hope that my semester’s worth of community service will be practical for Ozaukee County when making million-dollar decisions regarding the maintenance and implementation of new bluff-protection structures.