Author(s): Christina Tsaimou; Panagiotis Sartampakos; Vasiliki Tsoukala

Linked Author(s): Christina Tsaimou, Vasiliki (Vicky) Tsoukala

Keywords: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; Coastal vulnerability; Coastline evolution; Monitoring; Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Abstract: Coastal zones are multidimensional dynamic systems that frequently include the inevitably complex interaction between environmental and natural variability along with socio-economic activities and infrastructure operations. Within the context of building a holistic framework for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) applications, decision-makers and planners should comprehensively evaluate coastal dynamics. Exposure conditions including climate change impacts (e.g. sea level rise, extreme storm events, etc) and natural hazards (e.g. earthquakes), biophysical state, alteration in coastal population densities and characteristics, as well as construction of coastal and port infrastructure are among the most pressing factors that should be addressed in terms of determining coastal vulnerability. Since the latter is a time-dependent concept that refers to the degree the coastal system is susceptible to disturbances, continuous monitoring of coastline evolution is considered to be prerequisite for coastal vulnerability assessments. Recently, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) applications are offering a key and powerful technology in the field of coastal monitoring. This paper seeks to indicate the utility of Remote Sensing-driven monitoring approaches for assessing coastal vulnerability by deploying UAVs in conducting in-situ inspections at coastal zones. For this purpose, the case study of a coastal area at Northeastern Korinthiakos Bay at central Greece was investigated. The coastal zone under examination, which consists of separate coastal systems, belongs to a single regional management authority, namely Municipality of Thivaion, where development policies are currently promoted in the framework of facilitating an effective ICZM. Following this, field monitoring procedures including visual inspections and UAV flights have taken place in July 2021 aiming at recording current condition of the coastline and identifying present port facilities and geomorphology issues. To enable estimation of coastline erosion or deposition during the past years supplementary material including aerial imagery data provided by the Hellenic Military Geographical Service (HMGS) for three different years was utilized. All data collected was further analyzed to explore coastline evolution. The results have been proved to be crucial for the assessment of coastal vulnerability of not only each separate coastal system, but also the wider coastal zone of the municipality. Identification of coastline evolution and, thereafter, the degree of vulnerability facilitates a proactive planning adapted by relative authorities and managers, that can be further expanded towards the advancement of climate change resilience and sustainability of coastal zones.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/IAHR-39WC2521711920221300

Year: 2022