Assessment of coastal vulnerability index of the lower part of Piranhas-Açu river estuary using satellite imagery and airborne Lidar
Costal Vulnerability Index, climate change, coastal management, airborne LIDAR, Landsat 8 applied mapping.
Coastal zones throughout the world have intense environmental dynamics, related to the interaction between atmosphere/ lithosphere and hydrosphere. These places are filled with natural resources and have been intensely occupied with socioeconomic activities. Therefore, there’s risk of the population living in these areas being affected by changes in the coastal dynamics process due to global climate change. Such reality is found in the lower part of the Piranhas-Açu estuary in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN)
In order to help with coastal management and identify areas that are more vulnerable to changes in the coastal environment, Coastal vulnerability index (CVI) was applied. This method was developed by the North American Geological Service (USGS) during the nineties and later reevaluated and takes in account dynamical and physical variables.
This study uses multispectral digital image processing of Ladsat8- OLI and Radarsat2 to help with physical environmental thematic mapping, including coastal vulnerability and focuses on evaluating the contribution of high accuracy altimetry data, acquired with airborne Lidar. These activities contributes to the continuous, high-accuracy and systematic coastal monitoring that´s being done in RN´s seashore.