The Southeast Strategic Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme began in August 2002.
The programme is grant aided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Its primary aim is to provide a standard, repeatable and cost effective method of monitoring the coastal environment between Portland Bill and the Isle of Grain on the North Kent coast.
The programme includes:
Topographic beach surveys
Hydrographic nearshore seabed surveys
Aerial photography
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)
Hydrodynamic data (waves and tides)
It provides information for development of strategic shoreline plans, coastal defence strategies and operational management of coastal protection and flood defence.
Project management and data archiving are co-ordinated by a specialist team established specifically for the programme at the Channel Coastal Observatory, based at Southampton Oceanography Centre.
The data collected by the Regional Monitoring Programme is freely available on the Channel Coastal Observatory website. This data includes real time wave and tidal data and aerial photographs.
