Shoreline Change Analysis along the Udupi-Dakshina Kannada Coastal Stretch in Karnataka, West Coast of India using DSAS

Abstract

Study of morphological variations and the effects of oceanographic processes such as erosion and accretion at different temporal scales are important to understand the nature of the coast and the cyclic changes occurring during different seasons. The Udupi-Dakshina Kannada coast along the west coast of India exhibits a wide range of changes depending on the interactions of tide and wave energy, sediment supply and more importantly human intervention. In view of this, the present work has been carried out to study the changes in shoreline changes along the Udupi-Dakshina Kannada coast over a period of 29 years from 1990 to 2019. Remote Sensing and GIS techniques have been used to demarcate shorelines and calculate the shoreline change rates. Overall accretion and erosion rates were found to be 1.28 m/year and 0.91 m/year respectively along the coast. Highest accretion and erosion rates of 12.57 m/year and 5.34 m/year was noticed along the Dakshina Kannada coast. The study also suggests that multi-dated satellite data along with statistical techniques can be effectively used for prediction of shoreline changes. Keywords: remote sensing, GIS, Dakshina Kannada coast, oceanography, shoreline.