Abstract

ORLANDO, Luis. Sandy beach area estimation through open access satellite information: A calibration for the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay. Bol. Invest. Mar. Cost. [online]. 2023, vol.52, n.1, pp.117-134.  Epub Sep 11, 2023. ISSN 0122-9761.  https://doi.org/10.25268/bimc.invemar.2023.52.1.1144.

S andy beaches provide a variety of ecosystem services that support human well-being at coastal areas. These ecosystems are highly dynamic and primarily defined by the interaction between waves, tides and wind regimes. High variability makes beaches vulnerable to physical modifications and climate change, jeopardizing ecosystems functions. This has resulted in accelerated erosion rates and ecological degradation with widespread socioeconomic implications. Coastal dynamic analysis is a data demanding process that requires long term monitoring programs; this study applies an open access methodology to the Landsat collection in order to estimate beach area. This informative variable can help elucidate coastal dynamics, ecosystem attributes and touristic potential. Sand (through Random forest classification) and vegetation (through a threshold of the normalized difference vegetation index) were considered as components of the beach ecosystem. The method was calibrated for the Montevideo coast by testing results against independent estimations of beach area, the area of 20 beaches of the Montevideo coast was estimated for a 35 years’ period. This methodology can be applied anywhere at a very low operational cost, potentially multiplying the available information and allowing better management on the pressing matters of coastal dynamics and sandy beach use.

Keywords : coastal erosion; ecosystem management; Landsat; open access; sandy beach..

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