Access to coastal erosion data
For coastal erosion, we refer to the five national-level and publicly available datasets below. Please refer to the Assumptions & limitations page for more information about the datasets.
Data on the coastal system and hydrodynamic conditions can be viewed at Waterinfo, Waterinfo-extra or the Coastviewer. It is also possible to search for coastal data at the portal of Rijkswaterstaat.
Coastlines
| Data owner | Deltares & Rijkswaterstaat (hosted at Coastviewer and Waterinfo-extra) |
|---|---|
| Data repository |
Coastlines BKL (download) Coastlines MKL (download) |
| Description | Reference coastline (BKL) and yearly measured momentary coastlines (MKL) are used by Rijkswaterstaat to determine where coastal maintenance through sand nourishment is needed. The MKL represents the average position of the coastline at a given point in time, measured from the shallow seabed to the base of the dunes. |
| Available time horizons | Current situation |
| Available climate scenarios | Not applicable |
| Year produced | 2025 (based on 1965-2026) |
| Spatial resolution | Based on cross-shore profile measurements by the Annual Coastal Measurements Programme (JARKUS), which are spaced approximately 250 metres apart along the Dutch coast. |
| Source documentation |
Technical documentation BKL-MKL dataset Technical documentation BKL dataset Technical documentation MKL dataset |
Nearshore bathymetrical data
| Data owner | Deltares & Rijkswaterstaat (hosted at Coastviewer and Waterinfo-extra) |
|---|---|
| Data repository | JARKUS bathymetry by Deltares (download) |
| Description | Yearly nearshore bathymetric surveys at cross-shore profiles along the Dutch coast. Bathymetry is het study of underwater depth of ocean floors. |
| Available time horizons | Current situation |
| Available climate scenarios | Not applicable |
| Year produced | 2025 (based on 1965-2025) |
| Spatial resolution | Alongshore spacing of approximately 250 metres. Cross-shore spacing of 5 meters. |
| Source documentation |
Technical documentation RWS’ JARKUS dataset |
Dune height change
| Data owner | Rijkswaterstaat (hosted on the Waterinfo-extra) |
|---|---|
| Data repository | Dune height change |
| Description | This dataset shows the difference in dune height along the Dutch coast between two measurement periods (2013 and 2017). It shows changes in dune elevation volume and height along the sandy Dutch coast. |
| Available time horizons | Current (based on 2008-2013 and 2013-2017) |
| Available climate scenarios | Not applicable |
| Year produced | 2017 |
| Spatial resolution | 2 x 2 metres |
| Source documentation | Technical documentation (PDF) |
Sand nourishments
| Data owner | Deltares & Rijkswaterstaat (hosted on the Coastviewer) |
|---|---|
| Data repository | Sand nourishments (download) |
| Description | Inventory of sand nourishment projects carried out along the Dutch coast, including location, year, type and volume. |
| Available time horizons | Current situation (based on 1952-2025) |
| Available climate scenarios | Not applicable |
| Year produced | 2026 |
| Spatial resolution | Not applicable |
| Source documentation | Technical documentation |
Offshore sand sourcing areas
| Data owner | Deltares & Rijkswaterstaat (hosted on the Waterinfo-extra) |
|---|---|
| Data repository | Sand extraction areas |
| Description | Outline of currently available offshore sand sourcing areas. |
| Available time horizons | Current situation |
| Available climate scenarios | Not applicable |
| Year produced | 2026 |
| Spatial resolution | Not applicable |
| Source documentation | Technical documentation |
