This dataset represents sand fencing after Hurricane Sandy. These data are part of a broader project Inventory of Habitat Modifications to Sandy Oceanfront Beaches in the U.S. Atlantic Coast Breeding Range of the Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) as of 2015: Maine to North Carolina.

Sand fencing was present in every state of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover, Maine to North Carolina, during the three years after Hurricane Sandy. Less than 1 mile (1.6 km) of sandy beach habitat was modified by sand fencing along the shorelines of Maine, New Hampshire, the North Shore of Long Island, and the Peconic Estuary of New York. The sandy beach habitat of the shorelines of North Carolina, New Jersey, and the South Shore of Long Island were significantly modified by sand fencing between 2012 and 2015, with an average of ~60 miles (~97 km) of sandy beach habitat each modified by sand fencing. Sand fencing was much less common on sandy beaches that were backed by bluffs, which tend not to have dunes, than those on barrier islands or baymouth barriers where dunes are more common.

The locations of all sand fencing visible on imagery taken at any point during the three years after Hurricane Sandy, from November 2012 through December 2015, were identified using high resolution imagery available in Google Earth for the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover. Only ocean-facing shorelines or those directly exposed to Long Island Sound or the Peconic Estuary were included in this project area; inner harbors and bays were excluded, for a total length of sandy beaches of 1,742 miles from Maine to North Carolina. Visible sand fencing may have been installed during those three years or may have been installed prior to Hurricane Sandy and was still present and identifiable in imagery from 2013 through 2015. Some sand, or snow, fencing may be installed and removed seasonally, while other sections of fencing may remain permanently and become buried in sand and vegetation. By zooming in to an eye elevation of 500 ft (152 m) or less, sand fencing is visible in high resolution imagery within Google Earth. The location of visible sand fencing was digitized using a heads-up approach in Google Earth, creating a data layer with contiguous sections of fencing delineated with thin, royal blue lines.

The digitized fencing lines were delineated based upon the style and orientation of the fencing. Where sand fencing was present in a solitary line, the line of fencing was traced. When fencing was installed in a zigzag pattern or series of parallel rows, the centerline of the row of sand fencing was marked. In locations where multiple rows of sand fencing were present, the longest contiguous section of fencing was delineated. Adjacent lines of sand fencing were delineated as contiguous sections when no large gaps were present between the adjacent lines. That is, if only a narrow gap separated the two adjacent sections for pedestrian access, the two sections were delineated as one contiguous line. Older sand fencing that was still visible within a vegetated dune system at the back of the beach was included if it was readily visible and identifiable because the fencing had modified the beach habitat by creating dunes in an artificially determined location and orientation; as long as the fencing was still visibly present, it was assumed that the fencing continued to modify the beach and its associated dune system.