The Coastal Processes Group (CPG) at the Center for Coastal Studies focuses on observing and modeling coastal processes including beach evolution, cliff erosion, and nearshore waves.

The monitoring program for San Diego county is one of the most comprehensive shoreline observing systems in the world. Beaches, cliffs, and waves have been monitored at select San Diego sites since 2001 including two energetic El Niño winters and four beach nourishments, using in-situ instruments, GPS equipped platforms, and more recently, mobile and stationary LiDAR and photogrammetric unmanned aircraft systems (UAS/drones).

These observations have led to a better understanding of seasonal beach sand level changes, wave runup and flooding, the fate of beach replenishment projects, coastal impacts associated with El Niño, cliff erosion forcing mechanisms, and improvements in coastal wave forecasting. Calibrated models can be used to improve coastal community resiliency both now and in response to changes in coastal sea level and storm characteristics.