Abstract
A comprehensive understanding of environmental changes taking place in coastal regions relies on accurate integration of both terrestrial and submerged geo-environmental datasets. However, this practice is hardly implemented because of the high (or even prohibitive) survey costs required for submerged areas and the frequent low accessibility of shallow areas. In addition, geoscientists are used to working on land or at sea independently, making the integration even more challenging. Undoubtedly new methods and techniques of offshore investigation adopted over the last 50 years and the latest advances in computer vision have played a crucial role in allowing a seamless combination of terrestrial and marine data. Although efforts towards an innovative integration of geo-environmental data from above to underwater are still in their infancy, we have identified seven topics for which this integration could be of tremendous benefit for environmental research: (1) geomorphological mapping; (2) Late-Quaternary changes of coastal landscapes; (3) geoarchaeology; (4) geoheritage and geodiversity; (5) geohazards; (6) marine and landscape ecology; and (7) coastal planning and management. Our review indicates that the realization of seamless DTMs appears to be the basic condition to operate a comprehensive integration of marine and terrestrial data sets, so far exhaustively achieved in very few case studies. Technology and interdisciplinarity will be therefore critical for the development of a holistic approach to understand our changing environments and design appropriate management measures accordingly.
Highlights
Ongoing climate changes are producing remarkable impacts worldwide [1]
Prampolini et al [6] showed that coastal block slides along the NW coast of Malta prolong below the sea level, reaching a depth of about 40 m, and Soldati et al [180] demonstrated by means of cosmogenic nuclide dating that they developed in a subaerial environment—when the coastline was much lower than today—having been submerged only later on, during the post-glacial sea-level rise
The submarine environment has struggled in being represented with the same resolution and coverage as its terrestrial counterpart because of its remoteness and/or its limited accessibility and the high costs imposed by the need to use expensive infrastructures and sophisticated technologies
Summary
Ongoing climate changes are producing remarkable impacts worldwide [1]. From the melting of polar ice sheets, and the consequent sea-level rise, to the increasing occurrence of extreme weather events [2], climate changes are notably modifying and/or threatening Earth’s environment and ecosystems. The attention recently paid to the integration of terrestrial and marine spatial datasets for different purposes is notable, the generation of seamless DEMs and DTMs, based on a reliable integration of onshore, nearshore, and offshore data, is often a challenge for the most part of the coastal regions, especially due to technical issues often associated with the integration of multisource data (i.e., differences in resolution, precision, and accuracy among the datasets available) Addressing this process relies on the development of innovative approaches in using methods and techniques traditionally developed for the investigation of terrestrial environments, for exploring and imaging submarine landforms.
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