The data held in this archive are LiDAR scans in .XYZ format. There are folders for the Full Scans, Slices, and Grids.
Slices are 1m wide strips, stretching seawards from the cliff, intended to mimic profile-based methods for the study of the coast. Grids are square areas on the beach, intended for the study of downwearing of the beach platform. The format of the files is text based (.xyz), and each point is a row comprising of seven columns, separated by spaces. Measured in metres, the first three columns correspond to position (x, y, z) respectively. The first and second columns are Eastings and Northings respectively. The third column is elevation of the point above Ordnance Datum Newlyn. The fourth to the sixth columns correspond to the colour of each point in RGB (Red Green Blue) format, with the fourth column corresponding to the red value, fifth to the green, and so on. The colour values are integers and range from 0-255. The seventh column corresponds to the intensity of the point, ranging from 0-255, with 255 being the most intense.


To collect the data, a single FARO S350 LiDAR scanner was placed at two fixed locations on the beach, spaced 178 m alongshore and between 30 to 40 m from the 10m high cliff. One location at the concrete foundation of an old staircase (30 m from the cliff), now removed, and the other being at a partially buried concrete pill box, previously on top of the cliff, but now on the beach and around 40 m from the cliff due to cliff recession. These two locations were accessible during low tide and their positions were found to be sufficiently stable during the observation period. The system used to anchor the TLS to each location differed at each one and were designed to ensure fast and accurate positioning of the TLS. At the pill box, a stainless-steel element was attached to the concrete providing a stable anchoring point, and at the staircase the TLS was attached to a tripod, whose leg lengths were fixed and equal throughout the whole observation period. The TLS were aligned with the horizon to assist during the co-registration process. The duration of the scanning at each location was around 30 minutes, and the TLS was moved from one location to the other consecutively. The TLS had a maximum usable target distance of 350m and point distance of 1.5mm at 10m. The raw data collected was further filtered and co-registered during post processing using FARO scene software. The global position of each TLS was recorded using a Leica GS15 at the end of the 9 month capture period. Then the exported scan data was transformed spatially to the GPS position and orientation recorded on-site, using ScanLABs proprietary processing software. All elevations are shown relative to Ordnance Datum Newlyn.