Earth observations for monitoring marine coastal hazards and their drivers
A. Melet
Mercator Ocean International, Ramonville-Saint-Agne, France
P. Teatini
Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
G. Le Cozannet
BRGM, Orleas, France
C. Jamet
Universite du Littoral Cote d'Opale (ULCO), Wimereux, France
A. Conversi
National Research Council of Italy, CNR-ISMAR, Lerici, Italy
J. Benveniste
European Space Agency, Frascati, Italy
R. Almar
LEGOS, Universite de Toulouse, France
Coastal zones have large social, economic and environmental values. They are more densely populated
than the hinterland and concentrate large economic assets, critical infrastructures and human activities
such as tourism, fisheries, navigation. Furthermore, coastal oceans are home to a wealth of living marine
resources and very productive ecosystems. Yet, coastal zones are exposed to various natural and
anthropogenic hazards. To reduce the risks associated with marine hazards, sustained coastal zone
monitoring programs, forecasting and early warning systems are increasingly needed. Earth observations
(EO), and in particular satellite remote sensing, provide invaluable information: satellite-borne sensors
allow an effective monitoring of the quasi-global ocean, with synoptic views of large areas, good spatial
and temporal resolution, and sustained timeseries covering several years to decades. However, satellite
observations do not always meet the precision required by users, in particular in dynamic coastal zones,
characterized by shorter-scale variability. A variety of sensors are used to directly monitor the coastal
zone and their observations can also be integrated into numerical models to provide a full 4D monitoring
of the ocean and forecasts. Here, we review how EO, and more particularly satellite observations, can
monitor coastal hazards and their drivers. These include coastal flooding, shoreline changes, maritime
security, marine pollution, water quality, and marine ecology shifts on the one hand, and several physical
characteristics (bathymetry, topography, vertical land motion) of coastal zones, meteorological and oceanic
(metocean) variables that can act as forcing factors for coastal hazards on the other hand.
