Quantitative analysis of temporal variations on shoreline change pattern along Ganjam district, Odisha, east coast of India

This research work describes the shoreline change rate variations of Ganjam district of Odisha, east coast of India for the past 24 years. Seven shorelines were extracted from multidated satellite images, and shoreline change rate has been calculated by using digital shoreline analysis system. Long-term shoreline change rate (1990-2014) of the study area has been calculated using weighted linier regression method. Short-term changes have been computed for different time scales, i.e., 1990-1999, 1999-2006, 2006-2008, 2008-2013 and 2013-2014 using end point rate method. The results obtained from the study show that 71.65 % of Ganjam coast shows accretion pattern and 28.35 % of coast falls under erosion category. High erosion is mainly noticed in northern side of Gopalpur port which is mainly due to recent construction activities. Short-term results reveals that 2006-2008 period shows maximum erosion and 1999-2006 period exhibit maximum accretion in Ganjam coast. From short-term analysis, it is observed that shoreline in the study area shows cyclic nature of erosion and accretion pattern. The study reveals that tropical cyclones and human activities such as port development, construction of breakwaters and groins are the major factors responsible for shoreline erosion in the study area.