The first COAST-SCAPES study addresses how monitoring the dynamics of coastal sandbars can advance shoreline protection
A recent study, supported by the COAST-SCAPES project and published in late October last year, sheds more light on long-term sandbar monitoring opportunities using satellite imagery. The article is titled “Automated Detection of Submerged Sandbar Crest Using Sentinel-2 Imagery” and was included in the Remote Sensing journal, an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal that addresses topics revolving around remote sensing technology.
The findings of this study show that the logarithmic band-ratio method applied to Sentinel-2 imagery very accurately can detect whether sandbar crests reside across morphologically distinct northwestern Mediterranean beaches and coasts. Additionally, as derived from the article, the blue-green ratio appears to be the most suitable and consistent approach used in sandbar detection, allowing for broad application of standards across both microtidal and mesotidal environments. Due to its simple nature and clear purpose, crucial processes such as assessment of sediment budget, resilience evaluation in data-limited regions and integration into various coastal management frameworks are now easily performed. As noted in the publication, however, cloud cover conditions limit the number of usable satellite images, requiring clear, calm water conditions, breaking-wave foams and sunlight for successful implementation.
This study has demonstrated that deeper research in monitoring the dynamics of coastal sandbars is crucial for advancing shoreline protection.
