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Quantitative assessment of shoreline changes along the tropical West Coast, Maharashtra, India: A remote sensing and GIS approach

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Abstract

Shoreline changes have been monitored for the tropical West Coast of Maharashtra using the Survey of India (SOI) toposheet, Remote Sensing (RS) data, and its incorporation in the Geographical Information System (GIS) for the time period from 1980 to 2013. Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Resource Sat (P6-R2) satellite data of 2013 year were geocoded using an image-to-image rectification process with the help of permanent points on the ground. The registered satellite imageries were added in Arc GIS 10.3 software with a false colour composite (FCC) band combination (3:2:1) to get clear contrast of the land–water boundary. The toposheet and satellite imagery waterlines were digitised using the line feature in Arc GIS 10.3 software. The shorelines digitised for different years were overlaid, and polygons were created for every changed location to compute shoreline changes from 1980 to 2013 to quantify the rate of erosion or accretion along the shoreline under investigation. Computed results were validated through detailed ground observations. The obtained results indicate that ~265 km (45.28%) of the coast is under erosion, ~234.17 km (40.02%) under deposition and ~85.97 km (14.70%) of the coast is stable. Maximum shoreline erosion is observed in the northern part extent from the Alibag to Shrivardhan and the deposition in the southern part of the coastal tract. The Maharashtra coast lost ~1.65 km2 net area during 1980–2013. In some places, sand spits are growing or receding in response to coastal currents and storm events. The present pattern of shoreline changes is related to physical setting of the shoreline, varying wind and wave climate and anthropogenic activity.

Research highlights

It is observed that, out of the total 585.06 km coastline studied from Alibag to Tarkarli, 264.92 km was observed under erosion, 234.17 km under deposition and 85.97 km long coastline are stable. In terms of percentage, the total length 45.28% is eroding, 40.02% is depositing and 14.70% is stable. The coast has lost a net area of about 1.65 km2 from the year 1980 to 2013 time frames. Maximum shoreline erosion is observed in the northern part extent from the Alibag to Shrivardhan and the deposition in the southern part of the coastal tract. The vulnerable and ecologically sustainable zones can be earmarked through this study for better coastal management policies.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support received from ISRO-Cell, Savitribai Phule Pune University (Project No. GOI-A-337(B) 129), Government of India is thankfully acknowledged. Thanks are due to the reviewer for his critical review and valuable suggestions. The authors (MAH and PBK) are thankful to the Head, Department of Geology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune for extending all the facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, 411 007, India

    Milind A Herlekar & Prafull B Kamble

  2. Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Navi Mumbai, 410 218, India

    Praveen B Gawali

  3. Department of Geology, GSS College, Tilakawadi, Belagavi, 590 006, India

    Pramod T Hanamgond

  4. Department of Geography, S.N. Arts, D.J.M. Commerce and B.N.S. Science College, Sangamner, 422 605, India

    Sainath P Aher

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  1. Milind A Herlekar
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  2. Prafull B Kamble
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  3. Praveen B Gawali
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  4. Pramod T Hanamgond
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  5. Sainath P Aher
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Contributions

Milind A Herlekar: Investigation, conceptualisation, supervision, writing an original draft, visualisation, fieldwork. Prafull B Kamble: Formal analysis, data curation, methodology, validation, fieldwork. Praveen B Gawali: Data acquisition, manuscript writing, and editing. Pramod T Hanamgond: Scientific input. Sainath Aher: Analysis of GIS data, software analysis.

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Correspondence to Milind A Herlekar.

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Communicated by Maripi Dileep

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Herlekar, M.A., Kamble, P.B., Gawali, P.B. et al. Quantitative assessment of shoreline changes along the tropical West Coast, Maharashtra, India: A remote sensing and GIS approach. J Earth Syst Sci 132, 31 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02047-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02047-8

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