Coastal Vulnerability at West Pasaman Regency

Physical assessment of coastal vulnerability under enhanced land subsidence in Semarang, Indonesia, using multi-sensor satellite data

Assessment of the integrated coastal vulnerability index of Ghana toward future coastal infrastructure investment plans

Coastal areas are inherently sensitive and dynamic, susceptible to natural forces like waves, winds, currents, and tides. Human activities further accelerate coastal changes, while climate change and global sea level rise add to the challenges. Recognizing and safeguarding these coasts, vital for both socioeconomic and environmental reasons, becomes imperative. The objective of this study is to categorize the coasts of the Mersin and İskenderun bays along the southeastern coast of Türkiye based on their vulnerability to natural forces and human-induced factors using the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) method. The study area encompasses approximately 520 km of coastline. The coastal vulnerability analysis reveals that the coastal zone comprises various levels of vulnerability along the total coastline: 24.7% (128 km) is categorized as very high vulnerability, 27.4% (142 km) as high vulnerability, 23.7% (123 km) as moderate vulnerability, and 24.3% (126 km) as low vulnerability. Key parameters influencing vulnerability include coastal slope, land use, and population density. High and very high vulnerability are particularly prominent in coastal plains characterized by gentle slopes, weak geological and geomorphological features, and significant socioeconomic value.

Coastal vulnerability is a spatial concept that can contributes to decision-making processes in managing the coast. Our study aims to compare and evaluate the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) and the weighted CVI (CVIw) along the Subang Regency coastline in northern part of Java Island-Indonesia. We use coastal parameters: coastal relief, morphology, shoreline change, tidal range, sea-level change, wave height, land subsidence, and land use. Then, vulnerability maps are prepared to highlight areas with low, medium, high, and very high vulnerability. The vulnerability parameters map showed that shoreline change, land subsidence, and land use are influencing the vulnerability more than other parameters. The CVIw appears to be more favourable to assess the Subang Coast vulnerability, in which the very high vulnerability (43%) is dominant compared to the CVI (21%). This will require urgent protective action from the coast managers. Both CVI and CVIw have a 21% of very high risk in the same areas (Mayangan, Legon Wetan, and Pangarengan Villages), and these areas need protection from the coastal land loss. Meanwhile, the authority has plans for aquaculture in the area, and we suggest that it should be planned thoroughly to ensure that the practice does not destruct the coasts any further.

Coastal vulnerability assessment of sea-level rise associated with typhoon-induced surges in South Korea

Assessment of vulnerability is essential for identifying and recognizing the coastal livelihood, socio-economic and ecological security status. However, coastal vulnerability assessments require a complex dataset including human and socio-economic factors. In this study, we investigated coastal vulnerability index (CVI) to map the vulnerability of Tuticorin coast toward coastal erosion using remote sensing data and geographical information techniques based on a multi-indicator approach. Gulf of Mannar located along the southeast coast of India and declared as a marine national park with high ecological diversity faces threat due to anthropogenic interventions as a result of industrialization, sand and coral mining, etc. CVI highlights the vicinity where the physical effects may be the greatest. Beach width was considered as an additional parameter, since a large number of coastal habitations were present adjacent to the beach along the study area. Coastal erosion, slope and relative sea level rise are the major factors affecting the coastal vulnerability in Tuticorin. CVI scores were categorized into four classes, viz., low, moderate, high and very high risk. Out of 84-km coastal stretch, 15 % falls under high risk, 12 % moderate vulnerability and 73 % the low vulnerable category. This approach provides an insight to assess the vulnerability and the degree of potential threat to the coastal system in order to prioritize actions and to develop adaptation measures.

This research analyzes coastal vulnerability to tidal flooding in Pekalongan District and City using the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) through a geospatial modeling approach. It aims to identify and map the physical factors influencing tidal flooding risk, employing remote sensing data and field surveys conducted over several months. The study revealed that the highest vulnerability was located in Tirto Sub district, particularly due to significant coastal erosion and human activities in the area. The findings provide crucial data for local governments and stakeholders to inform policies on sustainable coastal management and disaster preparedness, ultimately contributing to enhanced resilience against tidal flooding in vulnerable regions.

Coastal risk assessment is crucial for coastal management and decision making, especially in areas already experiencing the negative impacts of climate change. This study aims to investigate the coastal vulnerability due to climate change and human activities in an area west of the Limassol district’s coastline, in Cyprus, on which there have been limited studies. Furthermore, an analysis is conducted utilising the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) by exploiting eight key parameters: land cover, coastal slope, shoreline erosion rates, tidal range, significant wave height, coastal elevation, sea-level rise, and coastal geomorphology. These parameters were assessed utilising remote sensing (RS) data and Geographical Information Systems (GISs) along a 36.1 km stretch of coastline. The results exhibited varying risk levels of coastal vulnerability, mainly highlighting a coastal area where the Kouris River estuary is highly vulnerable. The study underscores the need for targeted coastal management strategies to address the risks associated with coastal erosion. Additionally, the CVI developed in this study can be exploited as a tool for decision makers, empowering them to prioritise areas for intervention and bolster the resilience of coastal areas in the face of environmental changes.

The purpose of this study was to determine how vulnerable the west coast of Aceh Besar, Aceh province, Indonesia, is in terms of its coastal morphology. This research was conducted from August to December 2020 and data processing was carried out at the Geographical Information Systems Laboratory, Faculty of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Syiah Kuala University. The method used was the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) with four geological parameters, namely geomorphological parameters, beach elevation, beach slope and shoreline changes. The results obtained from the CVI method show that 20.60% of the west coast of Aceh Besar, which has a total coastline length of 93.2 km, is in the very high vulnerability category (19.2 km), while 23.18% (21.6 km) is in the high vulnerability category, 8.80% (8.2 km) in the moderate category, 6.44% (6 km) in the low category and 40.99% (38.2 km) in the very low category. Sub-districts classified as having very high vulnerability are Peukanbada (7.94%), Leupung (6.22%), Lhoong (4.94%), and Lhoknga (1.50%). The geomorphology of areas that have very high vulnerability is generally in the form of sandy beaches with a very gentle slope, while, geomorphologically, areas that have very low vulnerability have a high elevation and cliff beaches.

Hereher, M.E., 2015. Assessment of South Sinai coastal vulnerability to climate change. Coastal vulnerability assessment is important to help achieve the sustainable use of coastal resources and to incorporate coastal hazards into coastal planning and decision making for integrated management. This study applied the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) to delineate susceptibility of the South Sinai coastline to climate change. The following variables pertaining to inherent shoreline characteristics were used in the assessment of the CVI: coastal slope, coastal geomorphology, fauna/flora, and socioeconomic factors. GIS and remote sensing analysis were employed to extract intrinsic attributes of the coast in this study area. Results showed that about one half of the 635-km-long coastline is exposed to high and very high coastal vulnerability to climate change, and global warming could exacerbate biologic suffering in the region. The Gulf of Suez is likely to be more vulnerable than the Gulf of Aqaba. ...

Coastal zones are transition zones between the land and sea, characterised by unique coastal ecosystems and natural resources, making them the focal point of human activities. Vulnerability assessments have been carried out along several coastal zones across the world. These assessments help coastal scientists, engineers, and policymakers prepare plans and devise mitigation measures to safeguard the environment and coastal population against climate change and coastal hazard impacts. The present study evaluates the vulnerability of the Kasaragod coast in Kerala, the west coast of India, due to sea-level rise. Eleven variables, viz. relative sea-level change, mean significant wave height, tidal range, geomorphology, shoreline change rate, regional elevation, coastal slope, population, road/railway networks, tourist sites and land use/land cover are considered in the estimation of the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI). The resulting CVI values were categorized into low, moderate, high and very high vulnerability classes. Based on this classification, 41.33% of the Kasaragod sub-district and 13.26% of the Hosdurg sub-district fall under the ‘very high’ vulnerability category. A significant decrease in vulnerability was observed along the Kasaragod sub-district when socioeconomic variables were excluded from the CVI calculation. However, in the Hosdurg sub-district exclusion of the socioeconomic variables led to increased vulnerability along the coast. The vulnerability maps developed in this study provide a crucial tool for identifying highly vulnerable coastal stretches and guiding effective strategies to safeguard the Kasaragod coast and its communities.

Tourism development in Greece has led to increasing pressure on coastal areas, which makes the study of sensitive coastal areas essential, in order to find appropriate solutions for their shielding. The aim of this study is an estimation of the effects of an anticipated sea level rise for the touristically developed part of Pieria Prefecture, which includes the settlements Paralia, Skala of Katerini, Olympic Beach, Korinos Beach and extends north to the area of the Kitrous saltworks and south to the mouth of Mavroneri river. Therefore the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) is applied, in an attempt to determine the susceptible parts to the potential sea level rise. CVI depends on the following parameters: (a) coastal geomorphology, (b) coastal slope, (c) shoreline erosion/accretion rate, (d) relative sea-level rise fluctuations, (e) mean tidal range and (f) mean significant wave height. The classification of the coast, which is of particular socio-economic significance since it hosts urbanized areas, into five CVI classes (from very low vulnerability to very high vulnerability), showed that 43.6% of the entire coastline is of very high vulnerability.

Coastal areas are highly dynamic environments facing increasing threats from both natural processes and human activities, such as coastal erosion, sea level rise, and land use changes. Prancak Village is one such coastal area vulnerable to geomorphological changes. This study aims to assess coastal vulnerability through geomorphological analysis using the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) method. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources, including satellite imagery, field surveys, digital elevation models (DEMs), and data from relevant agencies. The analyzed parameters comprised coastal morphology, beach slope, shoreline change, wave height, and tidal range. The CVI calculation yielded a value of 6.93, which falls within the 5.8–10.06 range classified as “low vulnerability” (20–40% vulnerability level), indicating that the study site has relatively low susceptibility to the physical factors assessed Although the overall index is low, local physical dynamics still pose risks in certain areas, confirming that geomorphology and coastal ecosystem conditions are more decisive in determining vulnerability than oceanographic parameters such as wave height.

Vulnerability is defined as the system's potential to be damaged by a certain climate change (CC) hazard, and ideally, it has to be assessed by accounting for the different factors controlling the coastal response both in negative (susceptibility) and positive (resilience) terms to changing climatic and/or geomorphic conditions. The lack of an easy-to-use assessment method that requires only readily available data has severely hampered efforts to assess national-scale coastal vulnerability to the potential impacts of CC and population growth in the coastal zone, particularly when project budgets are limited. This study presents a modified version of the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) approach. The main modifications are (1) the introduction of a more physically meaningful representation of the wave effect where storm erosion will only occur when the wave height exceeds a certain threshold value, and (2) an aggregated coastal-vulnerability classification method that comprises exactly the same number of vulnerability classes as that of the individual components of the CVI. As a demonstration, the method is applied to the 4996-km-long peninsular coastline of Spain. Under the worst-case scenario considered (sea-level rise [SLR] of 1 m by 2100), 50% of the Spanish coastline is classified as highly or very highly vulnerable. Given that tourism contributes 10% of the Spanish gross domestic product (GDP), it is noteworthy that high/very high vulnerability (both under low and high emissions scenarios) is indicated for very popular touristic areas along the Mediterranean Coast. These outcomes are likely to enable coastal managers/planners to identify high priority areas for further, more-detailed coastal vulnerability/hazard/risk quantification studies.

Serving as significant coastal ecosystems, mangroves and coastlines offer wide range of services and contribute majorly to the socio-economic persistence to the communities. Coastal zones of the Bhitarkanika region (encompasses Bhitarkanika mangrove), in the eastern coastal state of India, exhibit pronounced geomorphic instability driven by hydrodynamic forcing, sediment disequilibrium, and expanding anthropogenic activities. This study formulates an integrated geospatial framework combining Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI), and Binary Logistic Regression (BLR) to quantify shoreline dynamics and assess multi-hazard coastal vulnerability. Multi-temporal shorelines derived from Landsat-8 (2013) and Sentinel-2 (2016, 2019, 2022, and 2025) datasets, corrected for tidal variability and validated using Google Earth. The results revealed a predominantly erosional trend, with 87.80% of transect undergoing shoreline retreat and a mean erosion rate of –11.57 m yr⁻¹. Field observations corroborate approximately 174 m of sediment deposition in accretion zones and ~189 m of land loss across rapidly eroding around the mangrove tract. The CVI was developed using elevation, slope, land use land cover (LULC), proximity to shoreline, river, and road, wherein the parameter weights were computed through Principal Component Analysis (PCA), correlation, entropy weighting, and an Ensemble Weighted Model (EWM). The CVI-based outputs indicate that ~47% of the coastline falls within high to very high vulnerability zone, primarily influenced by low-lying terrain, fluvio-marine interactions, and intense human activities. The BLR-based model demonstrates strong predictive performance (accuracy> 85%) and statistically validates the CVI-based output (>75% spatial agreement). The BLR and ensemble-based approaches represents a robust, multi-criteria framework for coastal vulnerability assessment and critical high-risk zonation. The findings provide reliable spatial intelligence to support shoreline management, mangrove restoration strategies, and climate-resilience planning in the Bhitarkanika coastal system.