Geographic Information Systems applied to Integrated Coastal Zone Management

The littoral is the area where marine and terrestrial processes superpose and interact. Limits of their respective actions are imprecise, as processes which are characteristic of each of these environments do overlap. This particular characteristic makes the littoral zone complex and vulnerable to human activity, which in many cases, causes irretrievable damage to the natural equilibrium. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) promotes sustainable coastal development by adapting the use of natural resources in a way that avoids serious damage to the natural environment. This requires an integrated and organized action of all institutions that are involved in coastal development. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) besides being a useful tool for drawing maps on different scales and projections constitutes an excellent instrument for data analysis and integration due to its ability to identify spatial connections between different information layers. In this way, it is possible to build models for geomorphological evolution and predict changes in the coastal areas. In order to illustrate this, three examples of GIS applications are presented, which are currently being developed in different areas of the Spanish littoral. coastal hazards, shoreline evolution and coastal sand dune evolution, respectively. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.