East Yorkshire coastal erosion

The erosion calculator was devised in an original form in 2012 as an aid to ongoing studies of the East Yorkshire coast.

It is now made available as a download.

Written in Liberty BASIC v4.04 (runs in v4.5.1), the calculator is limited to PC desktop.

Calculator, data, and support files are downloaded as a compressed (zip) package:
erosion-calculator > erosion-calculator.exe > ‘Extract all’

To start the calculator:
erosion-calculator > erosion-calculator.exe

Change the desktop icon to own preference.

The database is updated once a year. A new download may overwrite an existing installation

Enter a location number and date range. Location numbers are those of monitoring profiles, 123 in all, from north to south, as maintained by East Riding of Yorkshire Council. A list of places is provided within the calculator.

Dates are organised into nominal years. For example, the first relevant Ordnance Survey was conducted 1852 to 1854 – a period represented as 1854. Twice-yearly readings for autumn and spring, introduced 1998, are merged into single annual values.

Any first and last year from 1854 to 2022 may be entered into the calculator. At a handful of locations, monitoring either started late or is discontinued. No erosion is recorded along major defences. The calculator advises accordingly.

Each year of the requested range for the particular location appears on the screen within a rapid succession. A summary follows, normally all that is required. Individual years may be scrolled back to. Prior to 2003, data are generally averaged over intervals between surveys. There may be the occasional insignificant rounding difference. Survey dates and lengths of periods are displayed.

Data for the erosion calculator are obtained from East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Whilst every care is taken in preparation, no liability is implied. The extent of future cliff losses cannot be assumed from past rates of erosion.

Prepared by Brian Williams. Last update September 2023.