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The present paper aimed to assess the sediment distribution pattern, mode of transport, and its interaction with hydrodynamic and topographic conditions at different depths and regions along the east coast of India. About 900 surficial sediment samples were collected and analysed on a monthly basis for the Chennai coastal region at 32 stations from 2013 to 2015. The study region is classified into four types, such as beach, inlet, 5 m, and 10 m depth. Sediment textural and grain size trend analyses were conducted to achieve the objectives. Sediment characteristics for the region were recorded as sandy, equally dominated by unimodal and bimodal at the beach, while unimodal at shallow depths (5 and 15 m). The sediments were medium sand to coarse sand at the beach, mostly fine followed by medium at 5 and 15 m depths. The sediment sorting is dominated by moderately well-sorted sediments; the skewness of beach sediments was negative, while nearshore sediments were found positive; average kurtosis values of sediments were noticed to be mesokurtic. The CM plot depicts that the sediments were mostly derived by tractive current, and the modes of transport are "bottom suspension and rolling" and "graded suspension no rolling" at beach locations and shallow water depths, respectively. The GSTA analysis reveals the annual average sediment transport pattern is northerly. The numerical hydrodynamic study confirms the GSTA and CM plot analysis. The study reveals a stable sedimentary environment south of the Chennai port and instability in the northern part. The study includes large spatiotemporal nearshore sediment data with hydrodynamic conditions, immensely helpful to coastal stakeholders and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid‐19 lockdown in India in March 2020 revealed the presence of Adivasi communities in the marine fishing industry of Goa, a coastal state in India. While the migration for work of Adivasi communities from the central regions of the country is well recorded, their movement across geographies of the forest and the coast is relatively unknown. Working with initial data collected during the lockdown, interviews conducted after the pandemic and using secondary materials, the paper sought to understand the social and material conditions in the forest and the coastal regions that shape this movement. Centring the waged relation of Adivasi workers opened the door to thinking about the marine fishing sector in India as a capitalist industry, while paying attention to social reproduction highlighted how the coastal and forest regions are spatially linked through their movement and labour. This highlights that the coasts and forests are going through distinct processes of capitalist intensification and expansion. Making connections between ecological appropriation, historical processes of resource extraction and marginalization, the paper finds that the extraction of fish resources in Goa is made productive through the hierarchization and differentiation of Adivasi workers. It reveals how the social relations of identity and caste mediate access to and define conditions of work at sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic shifts in shorelines due to erosion and deposition have become a significant challenge in coastal zone management, particularly in the context of climate change and rising sea levels. This paper evaluates the shoreline protection and efficiency of various wave-reducing breakwaters in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. The delta exemplifies the coastal erosion issue faced by deltas worldwide. Landsat satellite images were used to establish a coastal development map for the period 2000 to 2022. The wave data in front and behind the breakwaters were analyzed to assess the wave reduction efficiency of various breakwater structures. Our results reveal that coastal erosion is deeply concerning, with almost 40% of the coastline experiencing severe erosion. Hotspot areas have been observed to reach annual erosion rates of nearly 95 m per year. The majority of provinces have adopted protective measures, with 68% of affected shorelines protected to some degree. Our results show breakwaters to be highly effective in reducing wave height, with a 62% reduction in waves reaching the shore. The process of creating offset has taken place in the area from the breakwater back to the mainland, with the rate of increase in compensation also quite fast at up to 3.1 cm/month. The stability of the pile–rock is very high; however, it is necessary to add rock to compensate for the settlement of the rock part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intricate interplay of oceanic-atmospheric variations has intensified erosive processes on sandy beaches in recent decades, with climate change expected to exacerbate these impacts in the future. Projections for the southern Atlantic and Pacific regions of continental Latin America predict increased extreme events and heightened impacts on sandy beaches, highlighting disparities in studies addressing coastal erosion and its causes. To address these risks, a systematic review is proposed to analyze historical trends and projections, aiming to inform local-level studies and management strategies for at-risk coastal communities. Reviewing 130 research papers, insights reveal the influence of climatic events like El Niño and La Niña on coastal dynamics, as well as the effects of storm intensification and extreme events such as high-intensity waves and storm surges on Latin American coasts, resulting in ecosystem, economic, and infrastructure losses. Projections indicate a rise in the population inhabiting Low Elevation Coastal Zones (LECZ) by the century's end, emphasizing the urgent need for effective management and planning. Community engagement in erosion monitoring and adaptation programs is crucial for addressing these challenges and developing robust, sustainable, long-term adaptation strategies. This study aims to enhance the understanding of coastal erosion in Latin American communities addressing future coastal risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal zones experience increasing climatic and human pressures, which lead to growing risks and tipping points (TPs) under future scenarios and natural resource scarcity. To avoid crossing TPs with irreversible coastal losses, this paper proposes the development of adaptation pathways based on advanced coastal oceanography and engineering knowledge that enables a comprehensive assessment of evolving coastal risks. These pathways feature sequential interventions steered by simulations and observations as a function of available coastal resources (mainly space and sediment) and risks for infrastructure and socioeconomic assets. Such an adaptation has been developed for urban and peri-urban Mediterranean beaches, considering conventional coastal engineering together with nature-based solutions (NbS). Both types of interventions are assessed in terms of key physical variables, which serve to evaluate performance and estimate TPs. This analysis supports the new coastal protection and management plan promoted by the regional government of Catalonia and the coastal adaptation plan of the central government of Spain. The approach and results illustrate the potential of adaptation pathways for beach sustainability, enhancing the compatibility between short-/long-term coastal protection objectives under present/future climate and management scenarios. The development of adaptation pathways underpins increasing stakeholder cooperation to achieve shared decisions for coastal sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yang, S.M. and Lee, J.K., 2024. Evaluating the geoengineering performance of a gravity multiblock quay wall and jet-grouting on marine clayey soils along the Korean coastline. Journal of Coastal Research, 40(4), 672–682. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Jet-grouting has been widely used as a ground improvement method in several fields of geoengineering, but most of the case studies have focused on embankments and excavations. This paper describes the performance of a gravity block-type quay wall in the southwest coast of Korea where the underlying soft clayey soils were improved by jet-grout columns. The scheme and properties of jet-grouting and the construction history and measured behavior of the wall-soil system are presented. A finite element analysis was conducted to estimate the settlement, lateral displacement, and horizontal earth pressure of the quay wall. The computed results compare well with the field data during and after construction. The effect of area replacement ratio, quantifying the degree of ground improvement, on the response of the quay walls was also investigated. The field and numerical results show that the jet-grout columns enhanced the performance of the block-type quay wall over soft soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, European Union (EU27) member states have held sway over the administration of aquaculture sectors. However, challenges have arisen within this regulatory framework, particularly concerning the implementation of sustainable conservation measures across the EU27 region. In response to perceived regulatory shortcomings, alternative strategies like economic and community‐based management have emerged. Thus, this study aims to investigate how global governance factors have influenced the growth of the aquaculture industry within the European Union (EU13) and European Union (EU14) from 1990 to 2023. To address endogeneity concerns, robust least squares, two‐stage least squares (2SLS), and ordinary least squares estimators were employed, yielding significant findings. Notably, the impact analysis reveals that property rights, economic stability, private sector quality, and private interest are pivotal drivers of aquaculture industry growth in EU14 developed countries compared to their EU13 developing counterparts. Conversely, the novelty of the paper shows that economic growth, social development, and aquaculture industry advancement hold greater significance in EU13 developing countries relative to EU14 developed ones, as indicated by the estimators. Given these insights, policymakers in EU13 developing countries are urged to prioritize initiatives aimed at fortifying property rights, economic stability, and private interest. Conversely, policymakers in EU14 developed countries are encouraged to focus on fostering economic growth, enhancing public sector quality, and promoting social development in blue farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: This paper introduces the special issue of Pacific Conservation Biology devoted to the natural history of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve on the south coast of Western Australia. Methods: This paper provides the background to the special issue. Key results: Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve was gazetted in 1967 for the conservation of the native biota, including two species; the Djimaalap/noisy scrub-bird (Atrichornis clamosus) and Ngilgaitch/Gilbert's potoroo (Potorous gilbertii), both believed extinct for over 100 years before being rediscovered on the Reserve. The Reserve is 4774.7 ha in area, with wetlands, heathlands, granite outcrops, sand dunes, beaches, cliffs, and islands. Since it was established, mean annual rainfall has decreased by 16.8%, mean annual maximum temperature has increased by 0.2°C, and mean annual minimum temperature has increased by 0.7°C. Conclusions: The paper poses the question: what do the changes of drier winters, hotter summers, and more extreme weather events mean for managers of conservation areas such as Two Peoples Bay? Implications: Changing climate will pose problems for the managers of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve in ensuring the conservation of the Djimaalap/noisy scrub-bird and Ngilgaitch/Gilbert's potoroo. Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve comprises ~5000 ha of wetlands, heathlands, granite outcrops, sand dunes, beaches, cliffs, and islands. Two species, the Djimaalap/noisy scrub-bird and Ngilgaitch/Gilbert's potoroo, were believed extinct for over 100 years before being rediscovered on the Reserve. Since the Reserve was established in 1967, rainfall has decreased, while minimum and maximum temperatures have increased. We ask what the climate change means for managers of conservation areas such as Two Peoples Bay. This article belongs to the Collection The Natural History of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Western Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexico is a well-known seismically active country, which is primarily affected by several tectonic plate interactions along the southern Pacific coastline and by active structures in the Gulf of California. In this paper, we investigate this seismicity using the classical Gutenberg–Richter (GR) law and a non-extensive statistical approach based on Tsallis entropy. The analysis is performed using data from the corrected Mexican seismic catalog provided by the National Seismic Service, spanning the period from January 2000 to October 2023, and unlike previous work, it includes six different regions along the entire west coastline of Mexico. The Gutenberg–Richter law fitting to the earthquake sub-catalogs for all six regions studied indicates magnitudes of completeness between 3.30 and 3.76, implying that the majority of seismic movements occur for magnitudes less than 4. The cumulative distribution of earthquakes as derived from the Tsallis entropy was fitted to the corrected catalog data to estimate the q-entropic index for all six regions, which for values greater than one is a measure of the non-extensivity (i.e., non-equilibrium) of the system. All regions display values of the entropic index in the range 1.52 ≲ q ≲ 1.61 , slightly lower than previously estimated ( 1.54 ≲ q ≲ 1.70 ) using catalog data from 1988 to 2010. The reason for this difference is related to the use of modern recording devices, which are sensitive to the detection of a larger number of low-magnitude events compared to older instrumentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study of basic population parameters of the black scorpionfish caught in the waters of the coasts of the Crimean Peninsula, its grown rate, and its nutritional spectrum. The modern food supply of scorpionfish from the southeastern part differs from that in 1940–1950: in the Sevastopol region, scorpionfish mainly consume fish, and in the waters of Feodosia they consume crustaceans. The main changes in food items, depending on the fish age, are associated with the components—decapods and fish. In the southeastern part of Crimea, small fish species predominate in the diet of scorpionfish, which affected the higher growth rate of the object studied. Black scorpionfish at the age of 6 years and older in these waters consume mainly decapods. In Sevastopol waters, the diet does not change significantly depending on age, so the fish component in the stomach of black scorpionfish of older age groups cause it to grow faster. However, no significant differences in the growth rate of fish from the two areas were obtained. The data presented in the paper on the physical and chemical parameters of water, as well as the distribution of bottom aquatic vegetation in the two main study areas, demonstrate small differences in the quality of the environment and are satisfactory for the bottom predator studied. The average age of the scorpionfish from Karadag was 5.9 years old, the most numerous age group was 4 years; the average age of individuals from the water area was 3.72, and the most numerous age group was 3 years. In the Sevastopol region, scorpionfish up to 5 years of age are larger than in the Feodosia region, and from 6 years of age it is the other way around. Despite this, the condition factor of fish from the waters of southeastern Crimea was higher in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the living conditions of campo residents requires access to drinking water. The surface and subsurface factors of a region influence the groundwater potential zones. The main objectives of this paper are to identify suitable groundwater zones for productive drilling and to assess groundwater mineralization in the coastal aquifers of the study area. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) were used in the methodology to generate the groundwater potential map. Lithology, geomorphology, specific capacity, hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, rainfall, infiltration rate, lineament density, drawdown, static water level, soil thickness, drainage density, slope, and land use/land cover were taken into account to characterize the groundwater potential zones. Weights were assigned to the various parameters and their characteristics according to their impact on groundwater recharge. The groundwater potential map of Campo was classified into four zones namely: very low 783.5 km2 (28.9%), low 835.2 km2 (31.9%), moderate 858.4 km2 (31.7%) and high 199.9 km2 (7.3%). Multivariate statistical analysis was used to understand groundwater mineralization. Two phenomena are responsible for the mineralization of water: a process of interaction between water and rock; and a process of salinization resulting from natural phenomena or anthropic activities. The present study could guide hydrogeological investigations and groundwater resource management planning in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unequivocal change in the climate system has put coastal regions around the world at increasing risk from climate-related hazards. Monitoring the coast is often difficult and expensive, resulting in sparse monitoring equipment lacking in sufficient temporal and spatial coverage. Thus, low-cost methods to monitor the coast at finer temporal and spatial resolution are imperative for climate resilience along the world's coasts. Exploiting such low-cost methods for the development of early warning support could be invaluable to coastal settlements. This paper aims to provide the most up-to-date low-cost techniques developed and used in the last decade for monitoring coastal hazards and their forcing agents via systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature in three scientific databases: Scopus, Web of Science and ScienceDirect. A total of 60 papers retrieved from these databases through the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocol were analysed in detail to yield different categories of low-cost sensors. These sensors span the entire domain for monitoring coastal hazards, as they focus on monitoring coastal zone characteristics (e.g., topography), forcing agents (e.g., water levels), and the hazards themselves (e.g., coastal flooding). It was found from the meta-analysis of the retrieved papers that terrestrial photogrammetry, followed by aerial photogrammetry, was the most widely used technique for monitoring different coastal hazards, mainly coastal erosion and shoreline change. Different monitoring techniques are available to monitor the same hazard/forcing agent, for instance, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), time-lapse cameras, and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) for monitoring coastal morphological changes such as beach erosion, creating opportunities to not only select but also combine different techniques to meet specific monitoring objectives. The sensors considered in this paper are useful for monitoring the most pressing challenges in coastal zones due to the changing climate. Such a review could be extended to encompass more sensors and variables in the future due to the systematic approach of this review. This study is the first to systematically review a wide range of low-cost sensors available for the monitoring of coastal zones in the context of changing climate and is expected to benefit coastal researchers and managers to choose suitable low-cost sensors to meet their desired objectives for the regular monitoring of the coast to increase climate resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-industrial society is driving global environmental change, which is a challenge for all generations, current and future. The Anthropocene is the geological epoch in which humans dominate and it is rooted in the past, present, and future. Future sustainability is building on the momentum of the fundamental importance of studying human dynamics and governance of coupled social and ecological systems. In the Anthropocene, social innovation may play a critical role in achieving new pathways to sustainability. This conventional narrative review uses a qualitative analysis anchored in the Grounded Theory Method and a systematic collection and analysis of papers to identify broad types of social innovations. Scientific journal articles published since 2018 were prioritised for inclusion. The six types of social innovation proposed are (a) authentic engagement; (b) artful and engaging communication; (c) urging and compelling change; (d) governance for social-ecological systems; (e) anticipation in governance; and (f) lived experiences and values. The six innovations proposed in this paper can be embedded within, and form part of, social action using a science-society compact for the sustainable development of coasts in the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

McNamara, G. and Vieira da Silva, G., 2023. The coastline paradox: A new perspective. Journal of Coastal Research, 39(1), 45–54. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. The coastline paradox, which suggests that coastlines have indefinite lengths, is a widespread and misleading concept that has endured in scientific literature for over 50 years. This paper argues that the length of a coastline is real and finite. The measurement of coastlines allows for the quantification of coastline dynamics and engineering responses to these changes. The real difficulties in measuring sometimes complex coastal shapes have taken the appearance of an unreal impossibility. The paradox is resolved using three methods. The first examines definitions used to establish the features to which "coastline" refers. The second applies these definitions to the measurement of real coastlines. Finally, a geometrical analysis is carried out to resolve the paradox mathematically. The purpose of this paper is to help resolve the paradox and reduce confusion surrounding the topic, which will be of direct use for coastal communities and planners to assess and respond to coastline changes and sea-level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal areas are dynamic and complex systems exposed to waves, high tides, and storm surges. Often, these areas are densely populated and have essential socio-economic values for the region and country. Any changes or disruptions can cause a tremendous social burden. Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) is one of the most used and straightforward methods to assess coastal vulnerability. This paper aims to analyse and summarise the current state of published coastal vulnerability indices. The analysis seeks to develop a regional vulnerability index for the eastern Adriatic coast, specifically for the Istrian peninsula. A total of 18 published papers were reviewed. A detailed survey was performed on three groups of variables that represent (a) the physical features of the coast, (b) the amount of influence of wave energy on the coast, and (c) exposed socio-economic factors. While choosing Physical and ecological variables is relatively straightforward, choosing Socio-economic variables is particularly challenging. The number of variables differs significantly from one author to another. As a result of the huge variety of global coastal characteristics and different research approaches, there is no universal CVI. Therefore, analysed indices are not suited for the calculation of the vulnerability of the Istrian coast without modification. A 5 × 5 m cell dimension was proposed as the most suitable for analysing the physical vulnerability of the Croatian coast of Istria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biosiliceous sedimentation, closely related to carbon sedimentation in water, has a significant impact on the marine biogeochemical cycle. However, large-scale monitoring data are scarce due to the constraints of biosiliceous sedimentation flux (BSF) gathering methods. There are few reports on the spatiotemporal variation of BSF in estuaries and offshore waters. Additionally, few studies have used satellite remote sensing methods to retrieve BSF. In the paper, satellite images from 2000 to 2020 were used for the first time to estimate the BSF distribution of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) over the past 20 years, based on a remote sensing model combined with particulate organic carbon (POC) deposition data and water depth data. The results showed that the BSF ranged from 100 to 2000 mg/(m2 × d). The accuracy tests indicated that the correlation coefficient (R2) and significance (P) of Pearson correlation analysis were 0.8787 and 0.0018, respectively. The BSF value varied seasonally and increased every year. The BSF did not follow a simple trend of decreasing along the coast to open water. Shenzhen Bay (SZB) generally had a higher BSF value than the Dragon's Den Waterway (DDW). The BSF in autumn and winter was investigated using empirical orthogonal function analysis (EOF). In autumn, the BSF of the PRE's eastern bank showed little change, while the BSF of the western bank showed obvious differences. In winter, the BSF in Hong Kong waters and inlet shoals fluctuated less, whereas the BSF in DDW and Lingding Waterway (LW) fluctuated more. The grey correlation analysis (GRA) identified two factors affecting BSF: chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and total suspended solids (TSS). Most BSF were primarily affected by TSS during winter. In spring, the two effects were balanced. TSS affected the east coast in summer, and CDOM was the dominant effect in autumn. Four main parameters influencing the distribution of BSF in the PRE were analyzed: ecosystem, reef, flow field and flocculation. This study showed that using satellite remote sensing to estimate BSF has excellent potential, which is worthy of further discussion in terms of spatiotemporal resolution and model optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tsunamis can be generated by a moving atmospheric pressure disturbance. The 2022 Tonga volcanic eruption and tsunami demonstrated the global relevance of such a tsunami generation mechanism. The generated locked and free waves are often scattered by bathymetric variations and coastlines, generating more free waves and resulting in a complex wave field. The physical processes involved can be described by the forced linear shallow water equations. Analytical solutions are sought after for simplified bathymetric variations and coastline configurations. In this paper, a moving atmospheric pressure front, which is uniform in the direction normal to its propagation direction, is considered. The water wave motion is assumed to start from the quiescent condition, so that the incident locked and free waves are related. However, since the wave scattering processes are linear, the solutions obtained in this paper can be used for analyzing scattering of the incident locked and free waves with uncorrelated amplitudes. For one-dimensional horizontal (1DH) problems, the water depth is either a constant or has a sudden change (i.e., a step) with or without a vertically walled coastline and the atmospheric pressure front always moves in the direction normal to the depth contours. In the case where a coastline is considered, the atmospheric pressure front can either move from the land to the sea or from the sea to the land. In the 2DH (two-dimensional horizontal) example, the wave field generated by a moving atmospheric pressure front, sweeping over the a circular island surrounded by a circular shelf, is investigated and discussed. For all the cases considered, analytical solutions in the integral form are obtained using the Fourier transform method. For the 1DH cases, analytical solutions are also presented in the form of infinite series, summing over infinite number of scattered and reflected waves from the bathymetric variations and coastlines. The new solutions reveal both the complexity of the wave scattering process and the significant differences between locked and free waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three-dimensional visualization of coastal zones for sea-land integration faces difficulties such as multisource terrain data fusion, tidal dynamic changes, and sea surface simulation. This paper proposes a method to convert the depth reference of water depth data into the 1985 national elevation benchmarks, which integrates multisource sea-land terrain data by vertical datums, converts rectangular coordinates and establishes a digital elevation model for sea-land terrain integration. Based on the dynamic characteristics of the sea surface with tides, this paper calculates the tidal level of the nearshore tide station using numerical tidal harmonic analysis and a prediction model. The dynamic sea surface height field away from the mainland is established by inverse distance weighted spatial interpolation. The paper simulates the sea surface by Phillips spectrum analysis and fast Fourier transform and achieves dynamic effects for the sea surface by concave-convex mapping and wave mapping, enhancing the reality of dynamic sea surface expression. In addition, this paper designs and develops the Coastal Zone Terrain Three-Dimensional Dynamic Visualization System, which realizes functions such as sea-land integrated three-dimensional terrain roaming, sea surface simulation visualization and the automatic generation of instantaneous coastlines at any time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the context of the "Shipwreck Inventory Project of Turkey (SHIPT)," numerous acoustic remote sensing and photogrammetric surveys have been carried out along the coast of Turkey with the aim of detecting, mapping and documenting underwater cultural heritage. During the surveys, many ancient shipwreck sites have been discovered thanks to advanced technologies such as high-resolution side-scan sonar (SSS), sub-bottom profiler (SBP), and remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Once acoustic anomalies have been located, shipwreck sites have been verified by ROV and documented by a 3D photogrammetric survey. Analysis of the collected data confirmed that the survey design and data acquisition parameters are the most important criteria for obtaining the best quality image of the shipwrecks. Performing high-resolution remote sensing and photogrammetric survey for shipwrecks using optimal data collection techniques provides rapid results, decreasing time and budget and increasing the quantity of underwater cultural heritage. This paper discusses proper survey stages for the rapid, effective, and high quality detection and recording of shipwrecks using advanced technology. Acoustic images of shipwrecks comparing cargo, period, and form are also introduced in this paper, for the first time, which provides data on interpreting anomalies accurately for further exploration and monitoring surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results from measurements of wave slope statistics during the R/V Meteor M91 cruise in the coastal upwelling regions off the coast of Peru are reported. Wave slope probability distributions were measured with an instrument based on the reflection of light at the water surface and a method very similar to the Cox and Munk (1954b) sun glitter technique. During the cruise, the mean square slope (mss) of the waves was found to be very variable, despite the limited range of encountered wind speeds. The Cox and Munk (1954b) parameterization for clean water is found to overestimate mss, but most measurements fall in the range spanned by their clean water and slick parameteriza tions. The observed variability of mss is attributed to the wave damping effect of surface films, generated by increased biological production in the upwelling zones. The small footprint and high temporal resolution of the measurement allows for tracking abrupt changes in conditions caused by the often patchy structure of the surface films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the management of estuaries and the preservation of tidal flats it is crucial to understand the tidal flat shape and development. Previous work focused predominantly on the quasi-equilibrium shape of tidal flats along open coasts with a dominant cross-shore flow and wave exposure. This paper evaluates the shape of fringing tidal flats in engineered estuaries, where longshore velocities generally dominate. Using a long-term (20 years) topographic data set of an anthropogenically modified estuary in the Netherlands (the Western Scheldt estuary), we relate key profile shape parameters and changes over time to natural and anthropogenic processes. In an engineered estuary, the tidal flat shape depends on the estuary geometry, hydrodynamic forcings and human interventions. In contrast to open coast tidal flats, the presence of the channel and dominant longshore flow determines the available cross-shore length (accommodation space) of the tidal flat and the shape of the tidal flat. This accommodation space defines the maximum tidal flat height and opportunity for marsh development. We propose the use of the Index of Development, indicating to what extend tidal flats have space to develop. This index is not only influenced by longshore and cross-shore flow, but also (or even more) by hydraulic structures, dike realignments and channel migration. Especially the latter two strongly influence the accommodation space and thereby the maximum tidal flat height and the opportunity for marsh development. For large stretches of the Western Scheldt, the accommodation space is too small, and the majority of the tidal flats do not vertically extent to mean high water. The success of tidal flat and marsh restoration projects depends on the accommodation space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem that the current double direction buffering algorithm is easy to use to seal the "bottleneck" area when simplifying coastlines, an adaptive simplification method for coastlines using a skeleton line "bridge" double direction buffering algorithm is proposed. Firstly, from the perspective of visual constraints, the relationship between the buffer distance and the coastline line width and the minimum recognition distance of the human eye is theoretically derived and determined. Then, based on the construction of the coastline skeleton binary tree, the "bridge" skeleton line is extracted using the "source tracing" algorithm. Finally, the shoreline adaptive simplification is realized by constructing a visual buffer of "bridge" skeleton lines to bridge the original resulting coastline and the local details. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively solve the problem that the current double direction buffering algorithm has, which can significantly improve the quality of simplification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime state, Kerala, is located along the southwest coast of the Indian peninsula, which extends from Trivandrum district (8° 17´ 41.03´´ N, 77° 5´ 37.29´´ E) in the South to Kasaragod district (12° 45´ 20.76´´ N, 74° 51´ 58.92´´ E) in the North, exposed to the waves from the Arabian Sea. The shoreline is extremely dynamic due to the impact of waves, tides, currents, coastal orientation and other associated occasional coastal hazards. The annual climatic calendar for the Kerala coast can be broadly classified as South-West monsoon (June to September), North-East Monsoon (October to December), and Pre-monsoon or Non-Monsoon (January to May). Prior to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a standardised seawall section had been preferred for highly eroding coastal stretches. The coastal hazards in addition to the tsunami impact paved the way for considering several other structures for coastal protection, of which groyne fields have been predominantly implemented. As it is essential to quantify the performance assessment of these protection measures, an exercise using the DSAS (Digital Shoreline Analysis System) tool was carried out, the results of which are presented and discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple datasets related to pond and marine aquaculture have been published using diverse remote sensing technologies, yet a comprehensive dataset detailing spatial distribution on both land and sea sides is lacking. Firstly, a meticulous comparison of datasets which we selected related to aquaculture ponds and marine, ensuring consistency in trends. Subsequently, the datasets published by our team were edited and integrated to illustrate aquaculture activities on both sides of China's coastal zone. Finally, a spatial differentiation of coastal aquaculture in major provinces was analyzed. This analysis also utilizes the types of coastline and statistical data, guiding coordinated resource management efforts. The results unveil a distinctive spatial distribution pattern, concentrating aquaculture in the northern regions—Bohai Sea, Jiangsu, Fujian, and Pearl River coasts in Guangdong. The provinces rich in aquaculture resources, such as Shandong, Guangdong, and Liaoning, exhibit extensive coastlines. However, remote sensing monitoring suggests an underestimation of Liaoning's marine aquaculture compared to statistical yearbook data. Furthermore, southern provinces like Guangdong and Fujian exhibit significantly higher aquaculture output than Liaoning. Zhejiang leads in fishing output. The paper outlines the future development direction of coastal aquaculture, emphasizing a strategic, integrated land–sea approach for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wave-induced currents play a critical role in coastal dynamics, influencing sediment transport and shaping bottom topography. Traditionally, long- and cross-shore currents in coastal zones were analyzed independently, often with two-dimensional models for longshore currents and undertow being used. The introduction of quasi-three-dimensional models marked a significant advancement toward a more holistic understanding. Despite recent proposals for fully three-dimensional models, none have achieved widespread acceptance, primarily due to challenges in accurately capturing depth-dependent radiation stress. This paper presents an innovative analytical model advocating for comprehensive three-dimensional approaches in coastal hydrodynamics. The model, based on novel simplification rules, refines relationships governing turbulent stress tensors and provides valuable insights into wave-induced stresses. It offers analytical solutions for both homogeneous and general coastal zones, laying the foundation for future advancements in numerical modeling techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to enhance the understanding of the littoralization process in mainland Portugal over a broad chronological framework. Littoralization is defined as the occupation and settlement of human communities along the coast. In this case, the analysis was based on the synchronic analysis of three chronologies: from the formation of Portugal to the settlement of the fountains (1096–1325); at the dawn of modernity, marked by the Portuguese expansion (1500–1524), with the first scientific census (1860); and in the present, with data from the last census (2021). The choice of chronology was dictated by the historical sources available and allowed us to check the trend of population dispersion both in terms of latitude and longitude, the latter being the analysis of the distance of the main population centers (counties) from the coast. In the first chronological segment, there is a "safety distance" from the exposed coastlines, which is gradually blurred over time until there is an impressive coastal demographic concentration in 2021, with around 80% of people settled within 50 km of the sea. So, the management of Portugal's territory is an unequivocal indicator of the Anthropocene even with the risks of the disappearance of some beaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design flood for a coastal basin based on model simulations can be impacted by various conditions other than design storm, such as tide level. However, the design storm and tide level are usually investigated separately, and the relation between them has not been sufficiently studied, which may have unexpected impacts on model simulations. This paper presents a bivariate assessment framework that aims to evaluate the coordination between design storm and tide level using a copula-based joint distribution to derive the conditional probability of coincidences between design storm and tide level intervals. We apply this framework to the Tai Lake Basin (TLB) in the eastern coast of China and investigate what tide level along its coastline is appropriate for guiding flood control planning. Our findings reveal that the currently-used tide level along the southern coast of TLB is too low and should be raised by approximately 0.35 m and 0.12 m under maximum 1-day and 3-day storms, respectively. Meanwhile, the tide levels for the north and east coasts are appropriate. This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between design storm and tide level in a large coastal basin, offering insights into the design of flood protection systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wolf Rock Lighthouse is a Victorian era masonry structure located in an extreme environment facing the fiercest Atlantic storms off the southwest coast of England whose dynamic behaviour has been studied since 2016. Initially, a modal test was used to determine modal parameters; then, in 2017, a monitoring system was installed that has operated intermittently providing response data for a number of characteristic loading events. These events have included wave loads due to storms, a small UK earthquake, helicopters landing on the helideck, and the grounding of a ship on the reef. This is believed to be the most extensive experimental campaign on any structure of this type. This paper briefly describes a unique project involving the characterisation and measurement of dynamic behaviour due to different forms of dynamic loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the literature covering the period from 1965 to 2020 dedicated to the issue of artificial beach nourishment along the Polish coast, with a particular focus on the Hel Peninsula. The primary sources used in this work include 34 reports from unpublished case studies and projects implemented by the Department of Maritime Hydrotechnics, Maritime Institute in Gdańsk, between 1971 and 2020. This paper also presents detailed information about the total fill volume in cubic meters of dredged material deposited along the Polish coast and lagoon shores in 1980–2020. During these 40 years, approximately 40.5 million m3 of sediment was deposited along the Polish coast and lagoon shores. Particular consideration was given to beach fills along the Hel Peninsula, which was at actual risk of breaking in its basal and central sections after intense storms at the turn of 1988 and 1989. The survey materials collected enabled the assessment of the coastal morphodynamics of the peninsula under the Coastal Protection Program through the prism of changes in the fill volume along the coastal sections, which were replenished with material coming from submarine deposits. The peninsula's stability was also assessed, taking into account the ongoing climate change. Moreover, this article discusses the proposed rules and terms for protecting the Polish coast by way of artificial nourishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of cross-shore sediment transport for non-cohesive sediments in the coastal zone. The principles of sediment incipient motion are introduced. Formulations for the estimation of bedload transport are presented, for currents and combined waves and current flows. A method to consider the effect of sediment heterogeneity on transport, using the hiding–exposure coefficient and hindrance factor, is depicted. Total transport resulting from bedload and transport by suspension is also addressed. New research is encouraged to fill the knowledge gap on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses evidence-based applications of Remote Sensing for Sustainable and Precision Agriculture in the Northern Savanna Regions of Ghana for three decades (1990–2023). During this period, there have been several government policy intervention schemes and pragmatic support actions from development agencies towards improving agriculture in this area with differing level of success. Over the same period, there have been dramatic advances in remote sensing (RS) technologies with tailored applications to sustainable agriculture globally. However, the extent to which intervention schemes have harnessed the incipient potential of RS for achieving sustainable agriculture in the study area is unknown. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has investigated the synergy between agriculture policy interventions and applications of RS towards optimizing results. Thus, this study used systematic literature review and desk analysis to identify previous and current projects and studies that have applied RS tools and techniques to all aspects of agriculture in the study area. Databases searched include Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, AoJ, and PubMed. To consolidate the gaps identified in the literature, ground-truthing was carried out. From the 26 focused publications found on the subject, only 13 (54%) were found employing RS in various aspects of agriculture observations in the study area. Out of the 13, 5 studies focused on mapping the extents of irrigation areas; 2 mapped the size of crop and pasturelands; 1 focused on soil water and nutrient retention; 1 study focused on crop health monitoring; and another focused on weeds/pest infestations and yield estimation in the study area. On the type of data, only 1 (7%) study used MODIS, 2 (15%) used ASTER image, 1 used Sentinel-2 data, 1 used Planetscope, 1 used IKONOS, 5 used Landsat images, 1 used Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and another 1 used RADAR for mapping and monitoring agriculture activities in the study area. There is no evidence of the use of LiDAR data in the area. These results validate the hypothesis that failing agriculture in the study area is due to a paucity of high-quality spatial data and monitoring to support informed farm decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most beautiful beaches in Northern Vietnam, Nhat Le, has recently experienced severe erosion as a result of the ensemble interaction of natural factors, such as tropical cyclones, extreme weather events, and human activities. Consequently, negative impacts on tourism and social and economic development have been recorded. This paper aims to provide a deep understanding of the changes in shoreline and longshore sediment transport at Nhat Le estuary based on two modules of LITDRIFT and LITLINE of the LITPACK software package combined with geospatial analysis. The rate of change statistics is calculated using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) from 30-year multi-temporal satellite data (1989-2019) for multiple historical shoreline positions. The Module of LITDRIFT is employed to estimate sediment transport and the shoreline position calculated from the LITLINE module. These data are then compared with measured topographic data and satellite images. Wave climate conditions are incorporated into the LITDRIFT module to identify the volume of sediment transport along the coast on seasonal and annual bases. The results illustrate that a mean erosion rate of about 2 m per year was observed in the southern sandspit of Nhat Le from 1989 to 2019. This rate reaches 4.5 m per year during 2009-2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research introduces an innovative method employing the Canny edge detector for automatic and precise coastline extraction, aiming to analyze spatial and temporal variations in the Oman coastline from 2000 to 2022 using GIS and remote sensing (RS) techniques. Focusing on both multi-decadal and short-term periods, the study aims to detect accretion and erosion rates through the observation and interpretation of coastal changes. Utilizing the Digital Shoreline Analysis System and LANDSAT imageries, Shoreline changes have been quantitatively evaluated using three distinct approaches: Linear Regression Rate (LRR), End Point Rate (EPR), and Net Shoreline Movement (NSM). The dynamic nature of the Oman coastal region necessitates a comprehensive understanding of its evolving coastline. Our investigation applies digital shoreline analysis to discern shifts in the coastline's position, employing a multiple regression approach for quantifying the rate of coastal change. To facilitate automatic shoreline extraction, various methods were experimented with, ultimately determining the Canny Edge algorithm's superiority in yielding precise results. The paper outlines the monitoring procedures for the coastal area and analyzes coastline changes using geospatial techniques. This analysis provides valuable insights for the planning and management of the Oman shore. Furthermore, the proposed model's applicability is rigorously tested against other generic edge detection algorithms, including Sobel, Prewitt, and Robert's techniques. The conclusive findings demonstrate that our model outperforms these alternatives, particularly excelling in the accurate detection of the coastline. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of coastal dynamics and offers a robust methodology for coastal monitoring, with implications for effective planning and management strategies in the Oman shore region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 1916 onwards, the Military Service Appeal Tribunals gave men in Britain a mechanism to appeal their conscription into the army. Though tribunals across the country heard appeals from tens of thousands of men, the work of the tribunals is now largely forgotten; an officially sanctioned process which began with the destruction of all the tribunal documents in 1921. Using the recently discovered papers for the North Riding County Appeal Tribunal, I have identified a concentration of Conscientious Objectors on the North Yorkshire Moors and specifically along the ironstone mining area of the coast. The high rate of conscientious objection in these areas is suggestive of an anti-war community, but I argue these men appealing at the North Riding Tribunal cannot always be seen as being anti-war. These communities supported the war effort but put limits upon that support. This paper builds upon Cyril Pearce's ideas around communities accepting of resistance to the First World War, which could be found across Britain, but challenges what these communities and Conscientious Objectors were resisting. If similar patterns can be identified in other parts of the country, this would nuance the narrative of conscientious objection away from men not wanting to fight to men not wanting to be in the army and accepting other forms of war work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used to simulate Typhoon Rumbia in this paper. The sensitivity experiments were conducted with 16 different parameterization combination schemes, including four microphysics (WSM6, WSM5, Lin, and Thompson), two boundary layers (YSU and MYJ), and two cumulus convection (Kain–Fritsch and Grell–Freitas) schemes. The impacts of 16 parameterization combination schemes and the data assimilation (DA) of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) water vapor were evaluated by the simulation accuracy of typhoon track and intensity. The results show that the typhoon track and intensity are significantly influenced by parameterization schemes of cumulus and boundary layers rather than microphysics. The averaged track error of Lin_KF_Y is 104.73 km in the entire 72-h simulation period. The track errors of all the other combination schemes are higher than Lin_KF_Y. During the entire 72-h, the averaged intensity error of Thompson_GF_M is 1.36 hPa. It is the lowest among all the combination schemes. As for data assimilation, the simulation accuracy of typhoon tracks can be significantly improved by adding the GNSS water vapor. Thompson_GF_M-DA combination scheme has the lowest average track error of 45.05 km in the initial 24 h. The Lin_KF_Y-DA combination scheme exhibits an average track error of 32.17 km on the second day, 28.03 km on the third day, and 35.33 km during 72-h. The study shows that the combination of parameterization schemes and the GNSS water vapor data assimilation significantly improve the initial conditions and the accuracy of typhoon predictions. The study results contribute to the selection of appropriate combinations of physical parameterization schemes for the WRF-ARW model in the mid-latitude region of the western Pacific coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to present the evolution of coastal landscape, as well as the defining component of it, sand dunes. The current situation of sand dunes, their impact on ecosystems, the threats and difficulties they face, along with the importance of their conservation were analyzed. The introduction is based on the statistical data gathered from numerous international reports regarding the environment, specifically the sustainability of coastal and marine zones. The information was processed and compared during the materials and methods phase to the analyzed site, which is unique for Romania, hosting the only natural reserve of marine dunes in the country, the protected area “Marine Dunes of Agigea”. The analysis focused on the physical environment, land use, history and heritage, flora and fauna. As for the results and discussions, a synthesis of the analysis and a diagnosis, vision and mission were elaborated, while the conclusion of the paper is summing up a sustainable landscape planning and management strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, although most tourists have made several trips during a year, the average length of their vacations has decreased. The tendency to reduce the average length of stay of tourists has been evident in many destinations around the world in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to conduct an analysis of how the average length of stay of tourists in the main categories of destinations in Romania has evolved over the last decade, providing details about the evolution regarding tourist destinations located in the Romanian Black Sea coastal area. Starting from the possible causes identified in this paper, of the almost continuous decrease in the average length of stay in these destinations, we consider it necessary to undertake more in-depth studies, to find out the causes of these developments, which will be the basis of future development and marketing strategies regarding the respective tourist resorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depth data and the digital bottom model created from it are very important in the inland and coastal water zones studies and research. The paper undertakes the subject of bathymetric data processing using reduction methods and examines the impact of data reduction according to the resulting representations of the bottom surface in the form of numerical bottom models. Data reduction is an approach that is meant to reduce the size of the input dataset to make it easier and more efficient for analysis, transmission, storage and similar. For the purposes of this article, test datasets were created by discretizing a selected polynomial function. The real dataset, which was used to verify the analyzes, was acquired using an interferometric echosounder mounted on a HydroDron-1 autonomous survey vessel. The data were collected in the ribbon of Lake Klodno, Zawory. Data reduction was conducted in two commercial programs. Three equal reduction parameters were adopted for each algorithm. The research part of the paper presents the results of the conducted analyzes of the reduced bathymetric datasets based on the visual comparison of numerical bottom models, isobaths, and statistical parameters. The article contains tabular results with statistics, as well as the spatial visualization of the studied fragments of numerical bottom models and isobaths. This research is being used in the course of work on an innovative project that aims to develop a prototype of a multi-dimensional and multi-temporal coastal zone monitoring system using autonomous, unmanned floating platforms at a single survey pass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Polish coastal zone is thought to be of the most exposed to sea level rise in Europe. With climate change expected to raise mean sea levels between 26 and 200 cm by the end of the century, and storms increasing in severity, accurate estimates of those phenomena are needed. Recent advances in quality and availability of spatial data in Poland made in possible to revisit previous estimates. Up-to-date detailed information on land use, population and buildings were used to calculate inundation risk at a broad range of scenarios. Inclusion, though imperfect, of flood defences from a highresolution digital elevation model contributes to a further improvement of estimates. The results revealed that even by using a static "bathtub fill" approach the amount of land, population or assets at risk has been significantly revised down. Sea level rise or storm surges are unlikely to reach intensity required to cause significant damage to the economy or endanger the population. The exposure of different kinds of assets and sectors of the economy varies to a large extent, though the structural breakdown of potential losses is remarkably stable between scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pressing problem facing coastal decision makers is the conversion of "high level" but plausible climate change assessments into an effective basis for climate change adaptation at the local scale. Here, we describe a web-based, geospatial decision- support tool (DST) that provides an assessment of the potential flood risk for populated coastal lowlands arising from future sea-level rise, coastal storms and high river flows. This DST has been developed to support operational and strategic decision making by enabling the user to explore the flood hazard from extreme events, changes in the extent of the flood-prone areas with sea-level rise, and thresholds of sea-level rise where current policy and resource options are no longer viable. The DST is built in an open source GIS that uses freely available geospatial data. Flood risk assessments from a combination of LISFLOOD-FP and SWAB models are embedded within the tool; the user interface enables interrogation of different combinations of coastal and river events under rising sea-level scenarios. Users can readily vary the input parameters (sea level, storms, wave height and river flow) relative to the present-day topography and infrastructure to identify combinations where significant regime shifts or "tipping points" occur. Two case studies are used to demonstrate the attributes of the DST with respect to the wider coastal community and the UK energy sector. Examples report on the assets at risk and illustrate the extent of flooding in relation to infrastructure access. This informs an economic assessment of potential losses due to climate change and thus provides local authorities and energy operators with essential information on the feasibility of investment for building resilience into vulnerable components of their area of responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades, an increasing economic and social flooding damages trend has been recorded worldwide. Although this situation was initially associated with climate change, recently different institutions and scientific papers have related this trend to two main reasons: (i) a human population increase and (ii) the number of assets located in floodable areas. In this regard, this paper analyses evolutions in flood damages and their causes in a Mediterranean area, the provinces of Alicante and Murcia, between 1996 and 2016. The duration of this period, from a flood risk management policy point of view, is very important because it encompasses one of the most important legislative periods at a national and European level. As a main result, this paper establishes a temporal and spatial pattern related to increases in flood damages and their main influence on coastal areas, respectively, due to certain economic, spatial and temporal factors. As a conclusion, these trends demonstrate the inefficiency of flood risk management policies, especially those connected with spatial planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extensive accumulation of big data, along with the development of a high-performance platform, bridge the gap between the previous inability to provide long-term time series and broad-scale coastal zone monitoring and risk warnings with remote sensing techniques. Based on 20 years of Landsat images from the Google Earth Engine platform, the time series land cover in the coastal zone of the Yangtze River Delta in China was classified. Then, a spatiotemporal clustering method based on grid segmentation was proposed to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution details of artificial surface expansion and the risks of cropland loss and ecological degradation caused by this. The results showed that significant changes have taken place in the quantitative structure and spatial morphology of coastal land use in the past 20 years. The artificial surface maintained a growth trend, increasing by 229%, while cropland decreased by 19%. Natural land showed a fluctuation pattern of "up→down→up". The spatiotemporal details of land use obtained through 1km grid segmentation and clustering analysis were more significant. The artificial surface mainly underwent a progressive spatial expansion along the central urban area and important transportation axes (types III and IV), with the most dramatic changes occurring from 2010 to 2013. Type III cropland loss was the most significant, falling from 75.02% in 2000 to 38.23% in 2020. At the same time, the change in type III water body corresponds to the newly increased area of reclamation, which has decreased by 17% in the past 20 years, indicating that the degradation of coastal natural wetlands was significant. This paper provided a comprehensive diagnosis of coastal land use change, which could help policy makers and implementers to propose more targeted and differentiated coastal development and protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal managers, policymakers, and scientists use shoreline accretion/erosion trends to determine the coastline's historical evolution and generate models capable of predicting future changes. Different solutions have been developed to obtain shoreline positions from Earth observation data in recent years, the so-called Satellite-Derived Shorelines (SDS). Most of the methodologies available in the literature use multispectral optical satellite imagery. This paper proposes two new methods for shoreline mapping at the subpixel level based on PRISMA hyperspectral imagery. The first one analyses the spectral signatures along defined beach profiles. The second method uses techniques more commonly applied to multispectral image analysis, such as Spectral Unmixing algorithms and Spatial Attraction Models. The results obtained with both methodologies are validated on three Mediterranean microtidal beaches located in two different countries, Italy and Greece, using image-based ground truth shorelines manually photointerpreted and digitised. The obtained errors are around 6 and 7 m for the first and second methods, respectively. These results are comparable to the errors obtained from multispectral data. The paper also discusses the capability of the two methods to identify two different shoreline proxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents experimental data on concentrations of a wide range of pollutants, including persistent organic pollutants (organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, toxaphenes), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heavy metals, in soil and adjacent environments in the impact area of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM) and neighboring areas (including the city of Baikal'sk). The features of toxicants levels formation depending on a type and properties of soil, potential sources of inflow, and location of sampling points are analyzed. The data are of practical interest for assessing the levels of the natural environment pollution prior to starting measures for the disposal of waste from the BPPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flash floods are one of the most common and destructive natural hazards, and recent flood events show their severe impact on Saudi Arabia. Flash floods are increasing year by year in duration and intensity, resulting in huge destructive impacts for the nation concerned. Anticipating the spatial patterns and occurrence of rainfall-induced floods is in high demand. Recent technique-based studies and their comprehensive results aid in understanding the flood potential of the drainage basins and in minimizing the risks of a threat to humans and of economic damage. Jeddah City is located at the western coast of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia and is one of the most important coastal cities in the Arabian Kingdom. It has experienced several destructive flash flood events, particularly in 2009 and 2011, causing serious damage and significant loss of life. An analysis of the morphometric parameters using geospatial techniques provides significant insights into the hydrological response of the drainage basins to major heavy rainfall events. In this paper, two relative flood susceptibility scenarios were produced: drainage basin levels and very accurate pixel-level conditions. The morphometric comparison levels suggest that basins 1 and 7 are very high, whereas the other basins have moderate and low levels. The derived flood susceptibility map was integrated with the topographic position and wetness algorithms (TPI and TWI) through overlay processing. The integration analysis aids in realizing the relationship between the general basin morphometric characteristics and the in situ relief for producing the flood susceptibility spots over the entire basins. Thus, the method of this paper can be applied to evaluate the site-specific plan minimizing the effects of flash flood risks in similar areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the drivers and impacts of degradation of agricultural land in a village in a South Indian coastal delta. Drawing on insights from political economy and political ecology scholarship, it argues that there is a dialectical relation between land degradation and social inequalities, i.e. the biophysical degeneration of land is not only caused by human and environmental factors but it also generates social contradictions which further intensify both land degradation and social inequalities. The paper demonstrates, firstly, that coastal land degradation has been generated in the form of soil salinity through a confluence of the inherent environmental vulnerabilities of the region, forces of commoditization (especially those associated with shrimp aquaculture), existing social hierarchies and state policy. Secondly, it shows that social groups differentiated by caste, class and gender have experienced these changes differently. A small, relatively well-off section of the locally dominant caste landowners has benefitted from shifting from paddy to shrimp aquaculture, which is leading to a further increase in salinisation. Others have to bear the brunt of decreasing productivity of land for crop cultivation, leading them to abandon or reduce cultivation and increase dependence on non-agricultural sources of income, especially through male outmigration. Women's burden of work has increased while their capacity to earn wage-income has declined. Without any concerted state effort to either restore the land or to alleviate the widespread agrarian distress, land degradation has developed into a continuously evolving downward spiral, but one where there will still be some winners and many losers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]