JANUARY 2014: JANUARY STORMS RESULT IN >40 M OF DUNE RECESSION AT ROSSBEIGH
Rossbeigh made headlines in January 2014, as it was heavily impacted by January storms. The main road providing access to the beach was severely damaged, and the Sunbeam shipwreck, buried on the beach since it ran aground in 1903, was displaced by more than 100 m. Clean-up operations on the road have been ongoing, and plans are underway to rebury the wreck.
The dunes at the breach, which are being monitored as part of my PhD research, receded by over 40 m between December 2013 and January 2014. Over the duration of the monitoring period (June 2012 to January 2014), the dunes here have receded by more than 90 m in total, and the breach has now widened to 1400 m.
Rossbeigh - Dune toe positions extracted from TLS data in 2012 (red), 2013 (purple), and 2014 (green) and, inset, dune toe positions digitised from orthophotos in 2005 (blue) and 2012 (orange).
TLS point clouds from January 2014 (background) and December 2013 (foreground). The distance between the foredunes at the points circled is 41.466 m.
TLS point clouds from January 2014 (background) and June 2012 (foreground). The distance between the foredunes at the points circled is 93.602 m.