JOIN THE RCOAST Citizen ScienceTeam

Our goal is to measure the response and recovery of coastlines to storm events. Our volunteers use their phones to scan their beaches, dunes and marshes before and after storms. They send their collected data to RCOAST and the RCOAST science team evaluates land loss, types of recovery needed and mitigation strategies to enhance beach, dune and marsh recovery.

How do we start scanning?

We collect data through the PolyCam App on the iPhone or Android. Follow the simple instructions below to send us your scanned coastal data.

Signup

We prefer that you scan your dunes, beach and/or marsh before a storm hits, and then immediately after the storm hits. RCOAST engineers will do the rest!

Step 1

Download Polycam App on

iPhone or Android

Currently, we are only requesting data from iPhone users via the Polycam app.

Step 2

Open the Polycam App and select LiDAR and the video icon

If you don't have the LiDAR option, select the 'photo' option.

Step 3

Scan your beaches, dunes and marshes

We suggest scanning in small segments (like the size of a couple of cars). Make sure to go slow and keep the camera as steady as possible. This will allow the phone IMU to follow your gestures more easily.

Step 4

Send us your data!

In the PolyCam App:

a. Go to My Captures

b. Select your scans

c. Select .las or .ply

d. Email us your data