iBeach utilizes web-cameras installed at high vantage points to collect real-time, high-resolution images over time. This visual data is used to model shoreline changes and detect the causes. Hawaii’s coastlines are susceptible to extreme coastal erosion rates; up to 2 feet/year. Statewide, these erosion rates are only expected to increase with sea level rise, and force property owners and coastal managers to make some tough decisions on how to adapt.

The critical issues of sea level rise and climate change – and the various symptoms of these shifts – are affecting coastlines, island cities and communities, and coastal infrastructure around the world. In 2018, the Hawai’i State government adopted a strong stance to protect the Hawaiian islands from effects of climate change and released the ‘Hawai’i Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report’. This report outlines in no uncertain terms the projected and measurable consequences of sea level rise for Oceanit’s home state.

Hawai’i, like many coastal communities, has clear and unique challenges in facing Sea Level Rise (SLR) and in dealing with adverse disaster conditions. While Hawaii’s unique location, temperature- and ocean-dependent weather patterns, and isolation from mainland resources make us particularly vulnerable to the repercussions of the evolving environment, the repercussions of SLR are being experienced around the world; from the South Pacific to Greenland.

Coastal development in much of the world has been developed to work with the ocean as it was several decades ago and much of the world’s waterfront infrastructure, such as buildings, roads, fortifications, harbor facilities, sea walls, and beach parks are now degrading under today’s ocean conditions.

With sea level rise estimates of one meter predicted by this century’s end, there are four key challenges to be expected which iBeach technology can work to monitor and provide insights for: