Effect of Hurricane Ivan on Coastal Dunes of Santa Rosa Barrier Island, Florida: Characterized on the Basis of Pre- and Poststorm LIDAR Surveys

Santa Rosa Island, situated along the northwestern Florida coast facing the Gulf of Mexico, is an 85-km-long wave-dominated low-lying barrier island with well-developed incipient and established dunes. In this paper, we examine the regional-scale effect on coastal dunes by a strong category 3 hurricane, Ivan, through comparison of pre- and poststorm airborne LIDAR (light detecting and ranging) surveys. On the basis of pre-Ivan LIDAR survey data, the elevation of the berm and back beach is typically 2.0 m above MSL (mean sea level). Incipient dunes range from 2.5 to 10 m above MSL, or 0.5 to 8.0 m above the surrounding beach. The hummocky dunes that developed over relic washover platforms are typically less than 4.0 m above MSL. The densely vegetated, established dune fields are composed of dunes less than 7.0 m high and intradune wetlands lying at less than 1.0 m above MSL. The entire island was severely affected by Ivan, which made landfall about 45 km to the west in September 2004. The landscape was substantially changed by Ivan. Over 70% of the incipient and hummocky dunes were destroyed, and a large portion of the low-lying wetlands was covered by washover. The degree of storm-induced morphology change depends not only on the intensity and duration of the storm but also on the antecedent morphological characteristics of the barrier island. Comparison of pre- and post-Ivan cross-island LIDAR profiles indicates that at most locations, more sand was eroded from the subaerial portion of the barrier island (e.g., beach and dune) than was deposited as washover terraces and lobes. This suggests a net sand loss to the offshore region. Evidence of sand moving alongshore related to the oblique orientation of the dunes was also identified. Under inundation regime, the subaerial sediment deficit could be accounted for by subaqueous sedimentation into the back-barrier bay