#52: Decades of Coastal Data is a ‘National Treasure’
From Power of ERDC by U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
March 31, 2026 · 36 min · Episode 52
About this episode
Mike Forte discusses the importance of coastal data collected at ERDC’s Field Research Facility and its impact on engineering and military operations.
Mike Forte, a research physical scientist at ERDC’s Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, North Carolina, calls himself and his team “custodians” of the data continuously collected at the research facility. The team’s care for the data, collection methods and validation and preparation efforts have made this data a national treasure. Decades of data sets from constant observation of the coastline through sensors, cameras, surveys and more have shaped and advanced coastal engineering, supported the development of new ocean and storm models, and given our military a decisive edge in coastal, littoral and amphibious operations. Forte pulls back the curtain on the scope of the facility’s data collection, the partnerships with national and global research organizations, and the effort to document and best tell the scientific stories of massive storms along our nation’s Atlantic Coast. Topics discussed include how the team responded to and captured data from a record-setting nor’easter in January (02:16); the FRF’s suite of data collection techniques and technologies for capturing coastal processes (5:14); and the…
People in this episode
Guest: Mike Forte
Topics covered
- coastal data
- data collection
- coastal engineering
- ocean models
- storm models
- military operations
Keywords
- coastal data
- data collection
- ERDC
- ocean models
- storm models
- military advantage
- data validation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
Places: Duck, North Carolina, Atlantic Coast
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