Abstract
The upland nature of the Scottish landscape means that much of the social and economic activity has a coastal bias. The importance of the coast is further highlighted by the wide range of ecosystem services that coastal habitats provide. It follows that the threat posed by coastal erosion and flooding has the potential to have a substantial effect on the socioeconomic activity of the whole country. Currently, the knowledge base of coastal erosion is poor and this serves to hinder the current and future management of the coast. To address this knowledge gap, two interrelated models have been developed and are presented here: the Underlying Physical Susceptibility Model (UPSM) and the Coastal Erosion Susceptibility Model (CESM). The UPSM is generated within a GIS at a 50 m2 raster of national coverage, using data relating to ground elevation, rockhead elevation, wave exposure and proximity to the open coast. The CESM moderates the outputs of the UPSM to include the effects of sediment supply and coastal defence data. When validated against locations in Scotland that are currently experiencing coastal erosion, the CESM successfully identifies these areas as having high susceptibility. This allows the UPSM and CESM to be used as tools to identify assets inherently exposed to coastal erosion, areas where coastal erosion may exacerbate coastal flooding, and areas are inherently resilient to erosion, thus allow more efficient and effective management of the Scottish coast.
Highlights
Coastal areas have historically been utilised for human settlement on account of an abundance of the natural resources required for survival and development (O€ zyurt and Ergin, 2009)
Ecosystem service valuations for Scotland are not readily available, with a coastline length of 18,670 km (Angus et al, 2011), (approximately 64% of UK's total coastline, and 12.5% of the European total according to Pranzini and Williams (2013)) the ecosystem services derived from Scottish coastal habitats are likely to be significant
This paper aims to introduce two interrelated models that aim to address the above need in Scotland: the Underlying Physical Susceptibility Model (UPSM) and Coastal Erosion Susceptibility Model (CESM)
Summary
Coastal areas have historically been utilised for human settlement on account of an abundance of the natural resources required for survival and development (O€ zyurt and Ergin, 2009). Jones et al (2011) identify that even though coastal habitats occupy only 0.6% of the UK's land area, they account for approximately £48 bn (adjusted to 2003 values) of ecosystem benefits. The coast supports industries including oil and gas installations, ports, fishing, agriculture, aquaculture, links golf, and tourism (The James Hutton Institute, 2013). Coastal hazards such as flooding and erosion have the potential to substantially impact upon both people who live near the coast, and the Scottish economy. The Scottish coastal zone is a resource which offers many opportunities, and requires careful management to allow all stakeholders to benefit (Scottish Government, 2014)
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