Coastal Hazard Assessments for Sandy Coasts: Appraisal of Five Methodologies

Abstract

Narra, P.; Coelho, C.; Sancho, F.; Escudero, M., and Silva, R., 2019. Coastal hazard assessments for sandy coasts: Appraisal of five methodologies. Journal of Coastal Research, 35(3), 574–589. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The acceptable development of coastal areas requires thorough and comprehensive management processes. In this context, the evaluation and identification of areas endangered by coastal hazards is fundamental for an appropriate implementation of coastal zone management plans, in which coastal hazard assessment methodologies become a vital tool for the identification and classification of the littoral lands. This work presents an overview of five coastal hazard assessment methods that are currently available. The objective is to provide coastal managers an understanding of the most adequate approaches to apply in specific areas, taking into consideration the basis of each method and the user purpose. Furthermore, this work also aims to be a guide for the application of the featured methodologies. The work focuses on coastal erosion; therefore, all methods discussed (coastal erosion risk assessment, coastal vulnerability index, Smartline, Coastal Hazard Wheel, and the RISC-KIT Coastal Hazard Assessment module) include coastal erosion in their assessments. A total of nine coastal hazard assessments were performed in three different study areas (Aveiro, Portugal; Macaneta, Mozambique; Quintana Roo, Mexico). The procedure for each appraisal and the data collected for each study area are presented here, as well as the results obtained. Each methodology has an ideal set of conditions for its application, varying in the ease of application and the data requirements. Despite that, most methods agree in the identification of the most endangered areas in each study site.