UAV and photogrammetric techniques to study shoreline changes in the high Arctic as exemplified by the Kaffiøyra region, Svalbard

Abstract

High-latitude coasts are among many polar ecosystems vulnerable to global climate change. This paper presents research results on coastline changes in Kaffiøyra, Svalbard (High Arctic). Archival aerial photographs and satellite imagery (1966, 1990, 2017) were used, and field surveys (by UAVs) were carried out in 2021–22 to create high-resolution digital terrain models (pix ~ 5 cm). The Area Of Interest (AOI) covered ~1.5 km² and was divided into four main zones of different characteristics (mouth of the river, beach, bay and sand spit). Remote sensing methods were used to determine the directions of changes in the Kaffiøyra coastline and to indicate the main factors affecting the deposition or erosion of sediments. With the support of a UAV kit with a GNSS receiver, using photogrammetric software, models, with precise and low error rates, were obtained depicting the state of the Arctic environment. The average rate of coastline retreat in the adopted AOI ranged from −0.24 ± 0.16 to 0.70 ± 0.16 m yr⁻¹ (1966–2021), but in the selected period: −0.32 ± 0.57 to 0.19 ± 0.57 (1966–1990), −0.38 ± 0.40 to 1.10 ± 0.40 (1990–2017); −0.27 ± 0.47 to 1.33 ± 0.47 (2017–2021). The study described the direct factors (coastal currents, tides, hydrographic network) and indirect factors (meteorological conditions and recession of Kaffiøyra glaciers) but focused on the morphometric transformation of the shoreline. In this study, the authors sought to explain the causes of the changes that are occurring in the polar environment. They performed the analysis under the very specific meteorological and topographical conditions of the Kaffiøyra lowland, discovering and closing the spatial gaps of coastal research in the Arctic. The results were compared with different locations on Spitsbergen, where the reasons for these changes were quite different.