Assessment of Coastal Vulnerability to Erosion Risk Using Geospatial and Remote Sensing Methods (Case of Jerba Island, Tunisia)

Abstract

Located in the southeast of Tunisia, Jerba is considered a premier tourist destination offering beautiful sandy beaches. Since 1960, the island has undergone significant socio-economic transformations due to its tourism boom. Beach tourism is extremely popular among the population, which has contributed to an intensification of coastal vulnerability, wherein the beaches are threatened with disappearance. This work aims to identify the causes of coastal vulnerability and measure it based on different geophysical and socio-economic variables using the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) developed by Gornitz (Vulnerability of the US to future sea level rise, Coastal Zone, Proceedings of the 7th Symposium on Coastal and Ocean Management, American Society of Civil Engineers, 1345--1359, 1991). This allows us to identify the most vulnerable sites and to establish maps and data for coastal management purposes. The results obtained show 63% (14 km) of the coastline of the northeast coast of the island has a high to very high degree of vulnerability. Moreover, 37% of the coastline of the southeast of the island has a low to moderate vulnerability or about 22 km of the entire coastline. The quantitative measures relating to this coastal vulnerability can aid to fortify the coast against a rise in sea level.