Assessment of Vulnerability for Eastern India Coastal Region Using Geospatial Techniques

Abstract

The increase in population and coastal infrastructure demands a rigorous assessment of coastal vulnerability for extreme events. The predictions by Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that climate change will severely impact coastal regions, river systems, urban infrastructures and increase the frequency of inundation along coastal areas. This study emphasizes the need to use extreme events and socioeconomic data to evaluate the vulnerability of a given coast. This paper presents the vulnerability assessment of the Chennai coastal region using eight variables: coastal elevation, coastal slope, rate of shoreline change, tidal range, sea level rise, storm surge, Adyar flood and land use and land cover. A Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) is calculated by integrating the physical and social–economic variables. The Coastal Vulnerability Index for shoreline erosion ranges from 15 to 21 with a mean value of 18 and a standard deviation of 1.6, while the Coastal Vulnerability Index for inundation ranges from 4.1 to 12.7 with a mean value of 7.3 and a standard deviation of 1.4. The vulnerability maps show the exposed regions around river Adyar that are highly vulnerable to coastal erosion and floods, especially due to extreme events. The assessment indicated the variation in the vulnerability of inundation around the Chennai Port regions and the low vulnerability of the shoreline erosion in this region. The vulnerability assessment suggests that planning and adaptation of the coastal ecology for the future needs are to be performed with extreme caution.