Have you ever felt that the world around you is changing due to climate change? While many people may not directly notice the changes in their daily lives, various media outlets emphasize the dangers of climate change and global warming. However, the reality is that climate change is gradually encroaching on our everyday lives.

Coastal erosion refers to the gradual wearing away of the shoreline due to natural forces such as waves, tides, and human activities. Although coastal erosion is a natural phenomenon, the acceleration of climate change has led to rising sea levels and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, which in turn has sped up the rate of coastal erosion.

Detection of Coastline Changes Using Satellite Imagery

Using satellite imagery, coastal erosion can be closely analyzed over time. Satellites have the advantage of observing large areas at once and detecting various wavelengths of light, which allows them to identify features on the Earth's surface.

Everything we see is reflecting light. For example, the reason the blue sea appears blue is that the water reflects blue light the most. Similarly, satellites observe the Earth using light. They can detect and distinguish many more types of light than our eyes can. By analyzing the light information captured by satellites, we can identify various features of the Earth's surface.

Coastline Boundary Extraction

In satellite imagery, differences between the target object and its surroundings can be emphasized. One of the most representative techniques for this is the Spectral Index. The most widely used examples are the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) for observing bodies of water and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for observing vegetation.

While RGB satellite imagery, along with the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), can be used to distinguish between land and sea, various factors such as clouds, shadows, and atmospheric conditions can reduce the accuracy of these spectral indices. In such cases, the Otsu thresholding is used in combination with spectral indices like NDWI and NDVI to automatically classify land and sea.

Is There Satellite Analysis That Tracks Coastline Movement?!

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