Tracking shoreline change and beach users with a low cost smart camera system

Have you ever wondered what day of the week is the most popular at your local beach? How many people were on the beach at any given time? Or have you ever noticed how much the shoreline can change over a year?...

The WRL coastal imaging team have developed a low cost smart camera system that combines machine learning with cutting edge image processing to count people and track changes to the shoreline.

This innovative system has been monitoring Ocean Beach on the NSW Central Coast for the past year, with some very interesting results:

• The beach widened by 10 m over the year
• Storms in June 2019 and February 2020 caused the most erosion over the year
• Over 20,000 people visited Ocean Beach throughout the year with 4 times more visits occurring during summer compared to winter
• The busiest month at Ocean Beach occurred in January 2020
• Midday is the most popular time to visit this beach