End Point Rate Tool for QGIS (EPR4Q): Validation Using DSAS and AMBUR

Abstract

This paper presents the validation of the End Point Rate (EPR) tool for QGIS (EPR4Q), a tool built-in QGIS graphical modeler for calculating the shoreline change with the end point rate method. The EPR4Q tries to fill the gaps in user-friendly and free open-source tools for shoreline analysis in a geographic information system environment since the most used software—Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS)—although being a free extension, it is created for commercial software. Additionally, the best free, open-source option to calculate EPR is called Analyzing Moving Boundaries Using R (AMBUR); since it is a robust and powerful tool, the complexity can restrict the accessibility and simple usage. The validation methodology consists of applying the EPR4Q, DSAS, and AMBUR with different types of shorelines found in nature, extracted from the US Geological Survey Open-File. The obtained results of each tool were compared with Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The validation results indicate that the EPR4Q tool acquired high correlation values with DSAS and AMBUR, reaching a coefficient of 0.98 to 1.00 on linear, extensive, and non-extensive shorelines, proving that the EPR4Q tool is ready to be freely used by the academic, scientific, engineering, and coastal managers communities worldwide.