a

r
t
i
c
l
e
s
JOURNAL OF NATURAL RESOURCES & LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION VOLUME 37 2008 49
G
eographic information systems (GIS) are becoming
a daily tool for professionals in natural resources as
interest in spatial relationships rise (Gumbricht, 1996).
Geographic information systems analyze spatial informa-
tion by incorporating the location, properties, and any
significant attributes of the object being studied (Bolstad,
2003). With the popularity of GIS growing, it is becoming
increasingly important for students in the natural resources
field to understand the structure and possible application
of new spatial data types. This article details an advanced
student exercise that uses Light Detection and Ranging
(LIDAR) data to estimate the change of earthen material
on Folly Beach, SC, between 1996 and 2000. Other studies
have used LIDAR to estimate sea cliff change (Rosser et al.,
2005; Young and Ashford, 2006), riverbank erosion (Thoma
et al., 2005), and the impact of hurricanes on beach erosion
(Zhang et al., 2005).
Light detection and ranging is one method of collecting
high resolution elevation data and is collected by aircraft.
As the plane flies over a preset path, thousands of laser
pulses are sent to the ground and the amount of time it
takes for the echo to reach the aircraft is measured (Thoma
et al., 2005). The laser travel time, when combined with
altitude, allows for precise estimates in ground elevation
to be computed (Thoma et al., 2005). As LIDAR becomes
a more common tool in GIS, it will become increasingly
important for new professionals in the field of natural
resources to be comfortable using data in this format. A
current limitation to both students and professionals alike is
the availability of free LIDAR data. At this time, only small
portions of North America have LIDAR data available to the
public. These areas consist mainly of coastal areas, and
extend only a limited amount inland.
James Island, located on the coast of South Carolina
near Charleston, is estimated to have had eight tropi-
cal storms or hurricanes that passed over or near the
island between 1996 and 2000 (National Oceanographic
and Atmospheric Administration, 2006), possibly causing
precipitation and/or temporary changes in the tide and sea
level. Hurricanes and tropical storms are known to affect
beach and dune erosion (Coch, 1994). It was the goal of
this study to determine the net gain or loss of materials
on Folly Beach during this period. The final product was an
estimated figure of beach erosion, in cubic meters (m
3
).
The educational objectives of this exercise were to
introduce the concept of LIDAR, teach the students how
to create a DEM from a LIDAR point shapefile, and also to
become familiar with the Cut\Fill tool.
Course Information
Forestry 816, Remote Sensing and GIS in Natural
Resources, is a course designed specifically to meet the
needs of natural resources students. Forestry 816 is the
second of two GIS courses offered at Clemson University,
Clemson, SC. The first GIS course in the sequence is an
introductory class that teaches entry level analysis, data
development and management, and is a prerequisite for
Forestry 816. Forestry 816 meets once per week during a
4-hour block of time that combines both lecture and labora-
tory. The course focuses on advanced tools in GIS, such as
Advanced GIS Exercise: Estimating Beach and Dune Erosion
in Coastal South Carolina
Steven T. Hall* and Christopher J. Post
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, 261 Lehotsky Hall,
Clemson Univ., Clemson, SC 29634-0359. Received 7 June 2006.
*Corresponding author (sthall@clemson.edu).

J. Nat. Resour. Life Sci. Educ. 37:4952 (2008).
http://www.JNRLSE.org
American Society of Agronomy
677 S. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA
ABSTRACT Many natural resources graduate students across the nation are being required to learn proper use of
geographic information systems (GIS) to include not only in their graduate research, but to also prepare for a career as
a professional in natural resources. This demand creates a need for graduate students to be properly instructed in GIS.
Advanced GIS exercises can be useful in teaching common techniques and methodologies in GIS. We have developed
an advanced GIS exercise that uses the spatial analyst extension in GIS and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) data.
The goal of this laboratory exercise was to determine the amount of erosion that has occurred over a 4-year period on
the coast of South Carolina. All students, individually, had the opportunity to use the Cut/Fill tool and create their own
digital elevation model (DEM). Students stated that this exercise helped them to understand how to work with LIDAR
data and also how to estimate erosion. Independently, students estimated that there has been a loss of more than 50,000
m
3
of material from Folly Beach during the 4-year period included in this study.
Copyright 2008 by the American Society of Agronomy. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Abbreviations: DEM, digital elevation model; GIS, geographic
information system; LIDAR, light detection and ranging; NAD, North
American Datum; UTM, universal transverse mercator.
a
r
t
i
c
l
e
s
50 JOURNAL OF NATURAL RESOURCES & LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION VOLUME 37 2008
Spatial Analyst, and is considered intermediate in terms of
difficulty. Much time is spent during the semester teaching
new tools and ideas to the students.
The course is taught by the Department of Forestry
and Natural Resources at Clemson University. Forestry
816 offers students a problem based learning environment
that allows them the opportunity to work on real-world
problems, including their own research. During the spring
2006 semester, seven graduate students were enrolled in
the course.
Before beginning the laboratory exercise, students were
given a presentation on what LIDAR is and how the data
can be collected. Additionally, students were explained that
LIDAR data can be useful in other types of analysis, such
as forest biomass (Nelson et al., 2004), surface classifica-
tion (Filin, 2004), canopy height (Lovell et al., 2005), and
fire behavior (Riano et al., 2003). The exercise itself was
explained in detail and a guide was provided to the stu-
dents to aid them during the exercise.
Materials and Methods
The study area for this exercise was Folly Beach, located
on James Island on the coast of South Carolina. LIDAR was
flown during the fall of 1996 and 2000. The tidal conditions
at the time of data collection are unknown to the authors.
The area of concern for this exercise was 27.2 ha in size
and was confined to the shoreline immediately adjacent to
the Atlantic Ocean. ArcGIS Desktop software version 9.1
(ESRI, Redlands, CA) was used for the completion of this
exercise. Additionally, the Spatial Analyst extension and the
LIDAR Data Handler extension (National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, 2006b)
were required. This exercise was broken down into two
subparts: (i) collecting and preprocessing data and creating
an analysis mask, and (ii) creating a model to perform the
analysis.
Collecting and Preprocessing Data
Two sources of public data were utilized for this exercise
(Table 1). LIDAR ASCII files were downloaded from the
NOAA Coastal Services Center (National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, 2006a)
with a horizontal resolution of 5 m, and vertical accuracy of
15 cm, using the LDART (LIDAR Data Retrieval Tool) avail-
able from the NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmo-
spheric Administration Coastal Services Center, 2006a).
Each dataset was projected in 1983 NAD UTM Zone 17N.
Having selected a small area for this exercise, the LIDAR
datasets were easily manageable with regard to file size.
In addition to the LIDAR data, a LIDAR Data Han-
dler extension (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration Coastal Services Center, 2006b) was also
downloaded to ensure proper importing of the data. The
LIDAR Data Handler was used to convert the raw data (x, y,
and z) to point shapefiles and is available from NOAA at no
cost. Digital orthophotographs (1999) were attained from
the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources GIS
Data Clearinghouse (South Carolina Department of Natural
Resources, 2006). The digital orthophotographs down-
loaded were 1 m in resolution and also projected in NAD
1983 UTM Zone 17N. The SCDNR GIS Data Clearinghouse
requires a username and password to access all GIS data;
however, usernames are available to the public at no cost,
as well as the data itself.
With the data collected and imported to ArcMap, it was
necessary to create an analysis mask such that only a small
section of James IslandFolly Beachwould be considered
in the analysis. To do this, the students individually cre-
ated a new polygon shapefile in ArcCatalog, and using the
digital orthophotographs traced and outline of the beach
in ArcMap. The new beach polygon was then set as the
mask and output extent in the ArcMap Environments. This
was done such that analysis occurred only in the area of
interest, and surrounding objects, such as houses and large
vegetation, did not skew the final result.
Model Development and Data Analysis
With all of the preprocessing complete, students began
working on their model using Model Builder. A model is a
graphic representation of the processes used during the
analysis, that when viewed is similar to a data flow dia-
gram (McCoy, 2004). The analysis tools can be executed
simultaneously from within Model Builder, allowing the user
to design, store and execute their model within the same
interface. Models are built by dragging the necessary
tools from ArcToolbox into the Model Builder window. Once
the tools are available, the specific settings for each tool
can be customized for the current project.
A new toolbox was created, and within the toolbox a new
model (Fig. 1). In the model, two tools were used: Feature
to Raster and Cut/Fill. The Feature to Raster tool converted
the LIDAR data to a raster from its original format, a shape-
file. This step was necessary given the raster prerequisites
of the Cut\Fill tool. Additionally, the procedure resulted in
a high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM). A DEM is a
graphical representation of elevation in grid format (Bol-
stad, 2003). For this exercise, the grid cell size was 5 m.
With the DEM created, the Cut/Fill tool was used to
determine the difference in elevation between the two data-
sets (Fig. 2). The volumetric difference between 1996 and
2000 on Folly Beach was 50,044
m
3
. This value indicated that,
during the 4-year period, more than
50,000 m
3
of material was lost from
Folly Beach.
With the amount of material
theoretically lost determined, a
class discussion was held to estab-
lish any error that may be included
in the figure. The students deter-
Table 1. Data descriptions and sources for this laboratory exercise
Feature Format Projection Source
1996 LIDAR ASCII NAD 1983 UTM Zone 17N National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration
2000 LIDAR ASCII NAD 1983 UTM Zone 17N National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration
Digital Orthophotos MrSID NAD 1983 UTM Zone 17N South Carolina Department of
Natural Resources
a
r
t
i
c
l
e
s
JOURNAL OF NATURAL RESOURCES & LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION VOLUME 37 2008 51
mined that at least two factors may have contributed error,
assuming error existed at all. The first, and most obvious,
was the tidal conditions when the LIDAR was flown. Had
the tide been in during the first flight and out during the
second, the total materials lost may have been overesti-
mated (or underestimated, were the opposite true). Addi-
tionally, the students decided that changes in vegetation,
which was inevitably included to some degree, may have
added a minor amount of error to the analysis.
Student Response
All of the students were able to complete the laboratory
exercise in 2 to 4 hours and found the project to be of mod-
erate difficulty. Although converting features to raster and
creating shapefiles was covered in the previous introductory
GIS course, this project exposed students to LIDAR for the
first time and the Cut/Fill tool. Students were also asked to
answer several questions related to the exercise (Table 2).
Fig. 1. Flow model developed within the ArcGIS Model Builder application.
Fig. 2. A portion of Folly Beach that was included in this study. This map includes DEMs from 1996 and 2000
and also the difference in beach volume over the 4-year period.
a
r
t
i
c
l
e
s
52 JOURNAL OF NATURAL RESOURCES & LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION VOLUME 37 2008
Most students were able to answer the questions with little
difficulty.
Student Feedback
Student feedback indicated that students enjoyed the
real-world application of GIS and that it helped them to
understand the basic concepts of LIDAR (Table 3). One stu-
dent was unaware that LIDAR could be used to determine
the amount of material lost over a period of time. Many
other students did not realize that a single dataset, such as
LIDAR, could have so many different applications.
Students noted that the exercise was clear, effective,
and easy to understand. They felt comfortable with the
basic concepts that is LIDAR and were interested in explor-
ing other applications of the data. When asked how the
exercise could be improved, students suggested that more
information on where to find public LIDAR data be avail-
able, and also a more in-depth explanation of how raw
LIDAR coordinates are converted to point shapefiles.
Conclusion
Overall, this exercise was effective in introducing stu-
dents to LIDAR and how it can be used in natural resources,
specifically when estimating the amount of erosion over a
period of time; although the exercise does not cover all of
the potential uses of LIDAR. Students were able to use raw
data points and convert them to point shapefiles, and then
convert the shapefiles to a high resolution raster, creating
a DEM, which was the first DEM many of them had ever
created. The students results indicated that there had been
a large loss of earthen materials on Folly Beach. However,
after the class discussion, they came to realize that a signif-
icant amount of error could be associated with the material
lost. Based upon student comments, the laboratory exercise
was useful when introducing students to LIDAR data.
Acknowledgments
We wish to extend our thanks to the students in Forestry
816, Remote Sensing and GIS in Natural Resources, 2006
spring semester, for their participation in this class exercise.
References
Bolstad, P. 2003. GIS fundamentals: A first text on geographic infor-
mation systems. Eider Press, White Bear Lake, MN.
Coch, N.K. 1994. Geologic effects of hurricanes. Geomorphol. Nat.
Hazards 10:3763.
Gumbricht, T. 1996. Application of GIS in training for environmental
management. J. Environ. Manage. 46:1730.
Filin, S. 2004. Surface classification from airborne laser scanning
data. Comput. Geosci. 30(910):10331041.
Lovell, J.L., D.L.B. Jupp, G.J. Newnham, N.C. Coops, and D.S. Culve-
nor. 2005. Simulation study for finding optimal lidar acquisi-
tion parameters for forest height retrieval. For. Ecol. Manage.
214(13):398412.
McCoy, J. 2004. ArcGIS 9. Geoprocessing in ArcGIS. ESRI Press,
Redlands, CA.
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. 2006.
Archive of hurricane seasons. Available at www.nhc.noaa.gov/
pastall.shtml (accessed 18 Mar. 2006; verified 3 Mar. 2008).
National Hurricane Center, Miami, FL.
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal
Services Center. 2006a. Topographic data. Available at http://
maps.csc.noaa.gov/TCM/ (accessed 18 May 2006; verified 3
Mar. 2008). NOAA Coastal Services Center, Charleston, SC.
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal
Services Center. 2006b. Topographic data. Available at http://
www.csc.noaa.gov/crs/tcm/lidar_handler.html (accessed
18 May 2006; verified 3 Mar. 2008). NOAA Coastal Services
Center, Charleston, SC.
Nelson, R., A. Short, and M. Valenti. 2004. Measuring biomass and
carbon in delaware using an airborne profiling LIDAR. (vol 19,
pg 500, 2005). Scand. J. For. Res. 19:500511.
Riano, D., E. Meier, B. Allgower, E. Chuvieco, and S.L. Ustinet. 2003.
Modeling airborne laser scanning data for the spatial genera-
tion of critical forest parameters in fire behavior modeling.
Remote Sens. Environ. 86:177186.
Rosser, N.J., D.N. Petley, M. Lim, S.A. Dunning, and R.J. Allison.
2005. Terrestrial laser scanning for monitoring the process
of hard rock coastal cliff erosion. Q. J. Eng. Geol. Hydrogeol.
38:363375.
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. 2006. GIS data
clearinghouse. Available at www.dnr.sc.gov/gis.html (accessed
18 May 2006; verified 3 Mar. 2008). SCDNR, Columbia, SC.
Thoma, D.P., S.C. Gupta, M.E. Bauer, and C.E. Kirchoff. 2005. Air-
borne laser scanning for riverbank erosion assessment. Remote
Sens. Environ. 95:493501.
Young, A.P., and S.A. Ashford. 2006. Application of airborne LIDAR
for seacliff volumetric change and beach-sediment budget
contributions. J. Coastal Res. 22:307318.
Zhang, K.Q., D. Whitman, S. Leatherman, and W. Robertsonet.
2005. Quantification of beach changes caused by Hurricane
Floyd along Floridas Atlantic coast using airborne laser sur-
veys. J. Coastal Res. 21:123134.
Table 2. Questions assigned to students for this
laboratory exercise.
1. How is LIDAR data useful?
2.
Why did you make a shapefile to outline the beach area of
James Island? If you hadnt made the shapefile, how would
your results have been affected?
3.
How much material was lost or gained between 1996 and
2000? What is the likely cause of this change?
Table 3. Student survey questions and results
Survey question Avg. SD
1. Did this exercise help you understand the
basic concepts of LIDAR? (1 = no, not at all
to 5 = yes, I understand the basic concepts
of LIDAR)
4.33 0.81
2. How would you rate this laboratory exercise?
(1 = easy to 5 = very difficult)
2.5 0.54
3. How could this exercise be improved? N/A
Seven students surveyed.