Monitoring the changes of the Coastal Areas using Remote Sensing Data and Geographic Information Systems

In this paper we monitor the changes of the shoreline and coastal area using satellite data. The case study is at the area of Georgioupoli which is a mainly tourism area located on the Northern part of the island of Crete. In our study, high resolution Quickbird and WorldView-3 satellite sensor images were analyzed with a resolution of 0.60m and 0.30m respectively, at a time period of 13 years. The premise is that interpretation of remote sensing imagery can provide useful and interesting information. Combination of remote sensing techniques and geospatial analysis was applied in order to visualize and identify land cover changes. This integrated approach, was successfully implemented for the assessment of natural resources, where two images on different dates were compared, in order to quantify the type and amount of changes that have been occurred in the coastal area. Currently, various applications of change detection have been applied in many sectors such as, agriculture, hydrology, forestry and environment. For this purpose, the shoreline was depicted numerically and manually for each year. In addition, NDVI classification was applied to quantify land cover changes near the coastal area. Shoreline measurements provide information about the coastal loss over the years and the changes of the coastal area. The high resolution satellite images allow the detection of erosion and accretion of the last years. Based on the results, we showed that surfaces of the coastal area and close to it were reduced or totally disappeared. Finally, significant changes were also detected in the vegetation for a 13-year period. These changes should be taken under consideration for the long term sustainable development and economic growth of the coastal area.