Using GIS to Analyze Sand Dune Volumes in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan

ArcMap 10 will be used as a tool to determine the volume of sand in dunes located within 2 km of the east coast of Lake Michigan in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The height of dune areas will be determined using Digital Elevation Models for each county along the coast. The elevation of Lake Michigan will be used as a base elevation for this volume analysis, because dunes do not generally extend below the lake level because waves will erode that part of the dune and carry the sediment away. A polygon layer will be created to estimate the area of land that the dunes cover by digitizing the areas on aerial photos. The 3D analyst tool will be used to calculate the volume of sand in the dunes from the DEM data and the areas of the polygon layer, representing the dune areas. The spatial variation of dune volume from north to south and in relation to major rivers will be analyzed. Aerial photos will also be used to quantify dune area covered by vegetation and assess dune stability