Boletín de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras

Vol. 52 No. 1 (2023)
Research Articles

Sandy beach area estimation through open access satellite information: A calibration for the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay

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Luis Orlando
UNDECIMAR
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25268/bimc.invemar.2023.52.1.1144

Published 2023-06-15

Keywords

  • coastal erosion,
  • ecosystem management,
  • Landsat,
  • open access,
  • sandy beach

How to Cite

1.
Orlando L. Sandy beach area estimation through open access satellite information: A calibration for the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay . Bol. Investig. Mar. Costeras [Internet]. 2023 Jun. 15 [cited 2025 Apr. 18];52(1):117-34. Available from: https://boletin.invemar.org.co/ojs/index.php/boletin/article/view/1144

Copyright (c) 2023 Luis Orlando

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Sandy 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.

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