Seasonal Drone Mapping Dataset – Sugarloaf Island, NC (2023-2025)

<p dir="ltr">This Collection archives a multi-year, drone-based shoreline monitoring dataset from Sugarloaf Island, North Carolina (USA), spanning Summer 2023 – Spring 2025. The project documents geomorphic and ecological change before, during, and after installation of nature-based shoreline stabilization structures, including Wave Attenuation Devices (WADs) and oyster breakwaters.</p><p dir="ltr">The Collection contains nine individual Figshare items representing seasonal surveys and a data curation template. Each seasonal item includes paired East and West island segments processed independently using RTK-GNSS control and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry. Datasets include orthomosaics (≈0.7 cm), non-interpolated DEMs (≈5 cm), dense and ground point clouds, original drone imagery, RTK-GNSS control and checkpoint data, and complete metadata and README files documenting processing parameters and accuracy metrics.</p><p dir="ltr">All products are referenced to NAD83 (2011) UTM Zone 18N with vertical heights in NAVD88 (GEOID18A). Per-survey horizontal and vertical accuracy were validated through 100-run Monte Carlo simulations using a standardized script adapted from James et al. (2017).</p><p dir="ltr">Supporting files include the <i>SOP_DroneCuration.pdf</i> and reusable metadata templates that define folder hierarchy and documentation standards for FAIR-aligned geospatial data curation.</p><p dir="ltr">Data are released under a CC BY 4.0 license and can be reused for shoreline-change detection, DEM analysis, habitat mapping, and evaluation of nature-based stabilization performance.</p>