Determination of human induced coastal changes using RS, GIS and geostatistics

Abstract

Black Sea coast of Turkey has been changed significantly as a result of newly constructed interstate road and intense urbanization along the coastline. Several coasts of the world have been facing these kinds of human-induced coastal changes and it is important to monitor and quantify them. This research emphasizes the importance of remote sensing (RS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geostatistics to determine and examine coastal changes. Archive and current images obtained from Lansat 5 TM sensor were used in this research to quantify changes occurred in 25-year period between 1985 and 2012. Transects were generated from these images along the coastline of the study area and they were used for spatial profile and geostatistical analysis to accurately identify coastal changes.