A PROJECT which invites the public to snap images of Welsh coastal scenes is helping monitor beach changes due to storms, rising sea levels and human activities.
Various places across Wales have been chosen as ‘CoastSnap’ locations, including a number across Anglesey and some in Gwynedd.
According to the CoastSnap website it is an example of a “citizen science” project which “complements” the formal beach monitoring surveys that the Wales Coastal Monitoring Centre undertake. The Wales Coast Path has also partnered with the scheme, it says.
The project identifies a specific coastal view point and asks the public to take pictures by putting their smartphones into a placed mount.
The images can then be uploaded via a website link, QR code and through the use of a CoastSnap app.
The Wales Coastal Monitoring Centre then collates and processes the data provided by the CoastSnap programme.
The public can also view their images and others online, and check how many submissions of that specific view have been made and there is an interactive map showing the existing sites.
One site on Anglesey which has recently featured a CoastSnap viewing mount is at the Lleiniog beach car park – between Llangoed and Penmon – an area which has seen extensive beach and coastal erosion in recent years, and campaigns by locals to save it.
Other spots include Beaumaris, Llanddona, Newborough, Parc Penrhos, Traeth Lligwy, Trearddur Bay, and Red Wharf Bay, and in Gwynedd, at Criccieth; the Castle and West Beach views, and Traeth Penllech on the Llŷn Peninsula.
According to Anglesey County Council the project consulted with the county council regarding the intended locations of CoastSnap sites.
“So far the project is proving successful with the site in Beaumaris being at one time, the most productive in Wales,” a spokesperson said.
The project relies on repeat photos at the same location to track how the coast is changing over time.
According to the CoastSnap website: “Using a specialised technique known as ‘photogrammetry’ CoastSnap turns photos into valuable coastal data that is used by coastal scientists to understand and forecast how coastlines might change in the coming decades.
“Photogrammetry enables the position of the coastline to be pinpointed from your snaps to an accuracy similar to that of professional coastal survey teams.
“All we ask is that you take the photos at the same location by using one of our official CoastSnap camera cradles or a do-it-yourself adaptation, and record the precise photo time in the App.
“The more photos we have of a particular site, the better our understanding becomes of how that coastline is changing over time.”
As well as monitoring erosion patterns, the scheme also can aid in bids for funding, as well as for educational and awareness raising purposes.
The Wales Coastal Monitoring Centre website notes its objective is “to introduce CoastSnap into Wales to increase public engagement with coastal science and to provide coastal data for analysis”.
