Shoreline Dynamics and Vulnerability Assessment Along the Karnataka Coast, India: A Geo-Statistical Approach

Coastal areas are dynamic transition zones between land and sea. Their vulnerability is increasing due to human interventions with the natural processes. In the present study, we focused on coastal vulnerability assessment along Karnataka, south-west coast of India to identify the erosion-prone areas by integrating thematic datasets such as shoreline dynamics, land-use/land-cover, geomorphology, geology, elevation and bathymetry using remote sensing and GIS techniques. The 304 km coastline of Karnataka is divided into fourteen littoral cells, and each into a number of transects at uniform intervals. In this coastal stretch, ~ 265 km (87%) is vulnerable to erosion of which ~ 179.5 km (59%) is undergoing erosion at various magnitudes. Littoral cells in the south are subjected to high erosion and vulnerability, and the areas having human interventions are the most erosion-prone. This approach provides valuable information on the degree of potential vulnerability risk which serves as a guide to develop adaptation measures by the coastal zone management authority.