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11 th International Symposium for GIS and Computer Cartography for Coastal Zones ManagementResults and DiscussionSince the program’s commencement in 2010, over 1300 photos covering 28 sites in Geraldton have been uploadedto the Flickr® group (www.flickr.com/groups/gbmp/) by volunteers from the local community. Despite a growingdatabase of photos and increasing recognition from coastal practitioners across Australia for its simple but effectivemethod, the program has experienced a range of challenges. Data quality, lengthy processes for volunteers uploadingdigital photos to the online repository, management of the program once passed to local government, andfunctions of the online repository were all challenges experienced in the program’s first 12 months. However, thesechallenges offered opportunities for improving the program’s efficacy.In 2012 NACC received funding from the WA State Government’s Coastwest grants program to develop twonew project components in order to address these challenges. This funding has also been used to expand the programto other coastal settlements across the region.The first component is a smartphone application for use on both iPhone and Android devices. The beach monitoring“app”, first incorporated into the program in March 2013, includes a ghosted image of the baseline field of viewat each monitoring point. This ghosted image allows the volunteer to align the baseline field of view with the newimage before taking the photo. This feature has improved the accuracy and consistency of the data being collected.Once the photo is taken by the volunteer, the “app” also provides an automatic naming and upload function to adatabase coordinated by the NACC. This function has removed the need for volunteers to manually upload andname photos using personal computers. The “app” also features an automatic reminder of when the next monitoringphoto is due to be taken. This function has the flexibility to coincide with the varying data collection requirements ofeach season, for example photos are taken fortnightly in winter and less regularly in summer when shoreline changein the region is usually less variable.The “app” also recognizes the closest photo monitoring point registered in the database by utilizing the georeferencingcapability of the phone. This function ensures photos that are uploaded directly to the database are automaticallynamed with correct location, time and date.The second component included in the extended program is a new database that has a filter function to provide arange of reporting options for coastal managers. Reports provide images over a specified continuous time scale, forexample to analyze shoreline change at a specified site over a twelve month period. Alternatively, reports will beable to select data over certain months or seasons, to be able to analyze shoreline responses to seasonal impacts overdifferent years. A web interface that is linked to the database will allow the public to view low resolution imagesonline.ConclusionData sets from the Geraldton program have already been used to identify the potential to improve coastal managementpractices at certain locations, while helping to improve local knowledge on beach wrack (washed upseagrass and algae) movement. Data sets will become more useful for coastal management as they extend over timeand are used in conjunction with other key data sets.The Geraldton Volunteer Beach Monitoring Program’s success in engaging community members to help fill keydata gaps has been demonstrated by the granting of further funding by the WA State Government to expand theprogram to key locations across 450 km of the region’s coastline. Additionally, the development of new projectcomponents such as a smartphone application, new database, and interactive web interface, has helped the expandedprogram overcome the challenges experienced in the first two years of the Geraldton program.AcknowledgmentsChiara Danese (Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute), Michael Maslin (WA Department ofTransport), Coastwest (Western Australia Planning Commission/WA Department of Planning), Riki Porteus, theCity of Greater Geraldton, and the dedicated volunteers.17