About

The Aim

This is the official blog of the Newcastle University, British Virgin Islands expedition.  The team of four second year, Survey and Mapping Science students will travel to the beautiful island of Anegada this summer to establish a baseline around the island, with the aim of quantifying the effect and extent of coastal erosion on the island.

The Island

Anegada From the Air.

Anegada is part of the British Virgin Island (BVI) chain in the Caribbean.  The island is small and flat, it has an area of only 38km squared, and a maximum height above sea level of 8m.  It was this low elevation that gave the island its name, Anegada translates roughly from Spanish as "the Drowned Land".    


Anegada has a population of around 200 people, with only one major settlement, called 'the Settlement'.  On a typical day in the height of tourist season the population of the island can double.  At present Anegada makes the majority of it's money from tourism with a number of small family run hotels and appartments dotted around the island.

The Issue

The island is situated on the North East boundary of the island chain.  This makes it one of the few islands in the Caribbean that bares the full force of the Atlantic. Furthermore it is the only island in the BVI that is made up of coral and limestone, not volcanic rock (like the rest of the BVI).  These factors coupled with recent coastal developments on the island make it susceptible to coastal erosion.

The Plan (the survey bit)

We plan to use rapid static GNSS survey techniques and the existing USGS base station, on Anegada, to create a semi-permanent control network from which we will undertake more detailed topographical mapping of coastlines at risk.  Additionally, geo-referenced photographs and meta-data will be gathered to enrich the information in the data. All data will be processed to produce a comprehensive dataset of at-risk areas for use by any organizations that may require it.