Shoreline Evolution Between Al Lith and Ras Mahāsin on the Red Sea Coast, Saudi Arabia Using GIS and DSAS Techniques

Abstract

A large proportion of the world's population lives in coastal areas. These zones play a vital role in the socioeconomic aspects of coastal communities. The evolution of shoreline along the zones is of great importance to scientists, and engineers as well as coastal management. This research aims to assess and understand the dynamics of shoreline along the Red Sea coast between Al Lith and Ras Mahāsin, using medium-resolution satellite imagery over 34 years (1984–2018) as well as to predict futuristic changes in the shoreline position until 2038. The tasseled cap transformation tools in ArcGIS 10.2 are used to extract shoreline position for seventh intervals time. These shorelines are analyzed by the digital shoreline analysis system in four statistical functions, namely (EPR, LRR, NSM, and LMS). The endpoint rate is used to predict futuristic shoreline positions. The results reveal that the evolutions of shoreline in the form of erosion and accretion patterns, as surface area exceed 12.3 and 0.89 km2, respectively. The evolution rates were classified based on LRR into five classes: [i.e., − 11.84 to − 7.85 (very high erosion), − 7.85 to − 4.17 (moderate erosion), − 4.17 to 0.00 (low erosion), 0.00 to 1.28 (low accretion), and 1.280 to 14.44 (high accretion)]. These changes are attributed to the impact of the extreme wave action and the littoral drifts of sediments by longshore currents. The prediction model reveals that a large portion of the coastal zone is vulnerable to a high rate of shoreline disintegration.