The measurement of surface moisture on beaches is vital for studying aeolian sand transport mechanisms, but existing techniques are not adequate for monitoring the surface moisture dynamics over a substantial beach section. In this study, we investigated the suitability of a new remote sensing method to monitor the spatiotemporal variation in surface moisture on a sandy beach using a long-range static terrestrial laser scanner (TLS). The TLS was permanently deployed on top of a 42 m high building overlooking the study site at Ostend-Mariakerke, Belgium. Considering the effect of target surface roughness on the intensity and the laboratory’s length limitation, a new intensity correction method is proposed which only uses the field point cloud data measured on a homogenous beach surface (without time-consuming indoor experiments). Based on the corrected intensity data, the relation of the beach surface moisture to the corrected intensity was modeled by an exponential model with a correlation-coefficient squared of 0.92. A moisture estimation model was developed which can directly derive the beach surface moisture from the original intensity data of the TLS with a standard error of 2.27%. The hourly surface moisture dynamics across two tidal cycles on the beach were investigated as a case study, in which the point clouds derived from corresponding unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery are utilized to improve the calculation accuracy of the incidence angles of TLS point clouds at long distances. Results reveal that, after the intensity correction, the long-range static TLS is an extremely suitable technique to monitor the surface moisture dynamics (daytime and nighttime) over a substantial beach section (hundreds of meters) at a high scanning frequency (minutes to hours).@en

In order to protect the Belgian coast, knowledge on natural sand dynamics is essential. Monitoring sand dynamics is commonly done through sediment budget analysis, which relies on determining the volumes of sediment added or removed from the coastal system. These volumetrics require precise and accurate 3D data of the terrain on different time stamps. Earlier research states the potential of permanent long-range terrestrial laser scanning for continuous monitoring of coastal dynamics. For this paper, this methodology was implemented at an ultradissipative macrotidal North Sea beach in Mariakerke (Ostend, Belgium). A Riegl VZ-2000 LiDAR, mounted on a 42 m high building, scanned the intertidal and dry beach in a test zone of ca. 200 m wide on an hourly basis over a time period of one year. It appeared that the laser scanner could not be assumed to have a fixed zenith for each hourly scan. The scanner compensator measured a variable deviation of the Z-axis of more than 3.00 mrad. This resulted in a deviation of ca. 900 mm near the low water line. A robust calibration procedure was developed to correct the deviations of the Z-axis. In this paper, we start by presenting the first results achieved with the current methodology. Next, we analyze the results from a 10-day measurement campaign and highlight the tide-dominated beach morphology.@en