Land use analysis and coastal structures: Adriatic Coast as a case study

Abstract

Coastal areas are one of the most complex and vulnerable nature environments. Generally, these areas are densely populated, therefore pollution, habitat loss, coastal dynamics, and climate change make these areas prone to be vulnerable with a resulting high risk for the population who lives in those places. Moreover, these locations are often intensely anthropized and prone to intense transformative pressure that increases the exposure inducing a consequent increase in the risk of already compromised integrity of the ecosystems and their ecological function [21] For these reasons, the knowledge of the present mosaic of land use/cover might be an important instrument to analyze the morphodynamic processes and also, for the definition of the rules necessary for the sector planning (e.g., Coastal defense planning, water catchment planning).