Geographic information systems for integrated coastal management and development of sustainability indicators

Abstract

The anthropic pressure on the coastal zone in countries such as Spain make it necessary to carry out adequate performances in planning, as well as management and administration, to achieve an optimal sustainable development. In such a fragile zone with adequate complex information strategies, to achieve that objective requires full data integration from different areas of knowledge, which is the main purpose of the research project titled "Development of new technologies of physical modelization and tools for its use for Integral Coastal Management in Spain" developed by the authors. The main goals set for this research project are the development and optimization of an integrated system to carry out successive high precision bathymetries; integration of results measured through a period of time on a coastal stretch using computerized coastal dynamics mathematical models; design of a geographic information system to integrate information needed to back the decisions for an optimal Integrated Coastal Management; determination of criteria to identify and quantify the alternatives proposed as coastal interventions when needed and development of sustainability indicators comprising socioeconomic, geographic and environmental aspects, to evaluate and follow up consequences of decisions adopted. The research project is divided into two phases. The first of these is focused on the description of an application for satellite positioning and computerized methods for high precision bathymetries and its applications to coastal dynamics mathematical models and the incorporation of all data to the Geographic Information System. The second phase is focused on setting up the criteria for the identification and quantification of indicators for the interventions considered for a particular coastal zone. The sustainability indicators comprise socioeconomic, geographic and environmental aspects, making it possible to evaluate jointly the interventions and their effects on coastal dynamics in an integrated way. © 2009 WIT Press.