Mapping Impact of Tidal Flooding on Solar Salt Farming in Northern Java using a Hydrodynamic Model

Nirwansyah Nirwansyah,Braun Braun

doi:10.3390/ijgi8100451

Abstract

The number of tidal flood events has been increasing in Indonesia in the last decade, especially along the north coast of Java. Hydrodynamic models in combination with Geographic Information System applications are used to assess the impact of high tide events upon the salt production in Cirebon, West Java. Two major flood events in June 2016 and May 2018 were selected for the simulation within inputs of tidal height records, national seamless digital elevation dataset of Indonesia (DEMNAS), Indonesian gridded national bathymetry (BATNAS), and wind data from OGIMET. We used a finite method on MIKE 21 to determine peak water levels, and validation for the velocity component using TPXO9 and Tidal Model Driver (TMD). The benchmark of the inundation is taken from the maximum water level of the simulation. This study utilized ArcGIS for the spatial analysis of tidal flood distribution upon solar salt production area, particularly where the tides are dominated by local factors. The results indicated that during the peak events in June 2016 and May 2018, about 83% to 84% of salt ponds were being inundated, respectively. The accurate identification of flooded areas also provided valuable information for tidal flood assessment of marginal agriculture in data-scarce region.

Highlights

Coastal flooding have been devastating events causing cost for human environment, increase property damage, and around 20 million people are exposed to present high tide levels and 200 million to storm tide levels [1,2]
Tidal floods that occurred upon salt production area were triggered by the high tide events in Java Sea
This study has developed a method to identify the tidal flood impact in different types of agriculture areas in the coastline where the tide is generally forced by local factors, using hydrodynamic models

Summary

Introduction

Coastal flooding have been devastating events causing cost for human environment, increase property damage, and around 20 million people are exposed to present high tide levels and 200 million to storm tide levels [1,2]. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) report suggests that the global mean sea levels will increase 36–71 cm by 2100 based on Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 mid emissions scenario [3]. This situation may increase the vulnerability of coastal regions, especially of cities, due to demographic trends and economic expansion [4,5]. Local types of agriculture such as solar salt production in tropical countries are facing the impact of tidal flooding in particular location, which is overlooked in the global discussion. This type of agriculture, has the potential to generate revenue from salt in various aspects, in terms of salt product quality, and for tourism, or even partly for coastal research centers [9]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion