MULTI-YEAR BEACH RESPONSE ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE OF LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK.

Attempts to detect chronic long-term changes in the condition of the beach must take into account the range of natural variations which occur from day to day and month to month. In general, this cannot be done from a few sets of aerial photographs that might be taken several years apart, but rather, requires long periods of direct observations. In general, the minimum detectable trend would equal the magnitude of the natural variations divided by the period of observation. Over the past 7 years, we have conducted a series of studies directed at documenting beach changes for two sections of the coast along the south shore of Long Island. The observations were intended not only to characterize the magnitude of seasonal beach response that occurred along these sections of the coast, but also to search for long-term trends.