DEA Coastlines annual shorelines

Abstract The Digital Earth Australia (DEA) Coastlines annual shorelines layer shows the position of the Australian coastline each year since 1988. It represents the most typical location of the shoreline at mean sea level. Each year's coastline is shown as a line on the map. If the line is dashed, it means there is lower certainty in the accuracy of that year's data. DEA Coastlines Explorer application This layer is part of the broader DEA Coastlines Explorer application, which uses satellite data and tidal modelling to support coastal monitoring and planning. The application uses satellite data from Geoscience Australia's DEA program and tidal modelling to map the shoreline at mean sea level for each year. It enables annual analysis of coastal retreat and growth at both local and national scales. Patterns of coastal change can be mapped historically and updated regularly as new data becomes available. This allows current rates of coastal change to be compared with those from previous years or decades. Mapping shoreline positions each year provides valuable insights into whether changes are caused by specific events or gradual processes. This information helps scientists, managers and policy makers assess the impacts of various coastal drivers impacting our coastlines and supports planning and forecasting for future scenarios. The DEA Coastlines Explorer application contains three layers: * DEA Coastlines annual shorelines * DEA Coastlines rates of coastal change * DEA Coastlines coastal change hotspots Currency Date modified: April 2026 Modification frequency: Annually Data extent Spatial extent North: -9° South: -44° East: 154° West: 112° Temporal extent From 1988 to 2025 Source information * [DEA Knowledge Hub - DEA Coastlines] * [DEA Coastlines catalog entry] * [DEA Coastlines raw data download] * [DEA Coastlines Explorer] * [DEA Coastlines Explorer - item details] Lineage statement For a full summary of changes made in previous versions, [refer to Github]. Data dictionary Layer attribute columns Annual shorelines ──────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Attribute name│Description ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── OBJECTID │Automatically generated system ID ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── year │The year of each annual shoreline ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── certainty │A column providing important data quality flags for each annual shoreline. For more information, see the [Quality tab] ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── tide_datum │The tide datum of each annual shoreline (e.g. "0 m AMSL") ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── id_primary │The name of the annual shoreline's Primary sediment compartment from the [Australian Coastal Sediment Compartments] framework ──────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── year_date │A variable added to enable visualising the shorelines using a time slider. ──────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Contact Digital Earth Australia, [earth.observation@ga.gov.au]