Suspended sediments concentration on shoreline change using satellite images for southern Kerala coast

Shoreline is a dynamic system where erosion/accretion patterns and sea-level rise takes place due to the natural marine processes and anthropogenic activities. The movement of suspended sediment along the coastal water is an indicator of erosion and deposition of the coastal landforms. This study aims to analyse the shoreline changes and the corresponding spatio-temporal pattern of suspended sediment concentration of the southern Kerala coast using Sentinel 2 MSI satellite images for the period from December 2018 to November 2019. Single band at 645 nm shows good correlation with better regression co-efficient in a closed or semi-enclosed lake that shows less complexity of water quality. Hence red band of Sentinel 2 MSI has been used to estimate the suspended sediments in this study. Total suspended sediment along the south Kerala coast ranging from 0-10 mg/l has been estimated from the satellite images. The seasonal pattern of suspended sediment concentration has been estimated from the satellite images (SENTINEL 2 MSI) for the period from December 2018 to November 2019. The suspended sediments derived from the satellite image have been compared with the corresponding field data. The suspended sediment concentration derived from the satellite images shows a correlation coefficient R-2 = 0.85 with the field data. Similarly, the shoreline erosion and accretion have been analysed from the shoreline change analysis methods. In this study, monthly and seasonal shoreline changes have been estimated along the southern Kerala coast using multi-spectral and multi-temporal satellite imagery (SENTINEL 2 MSI) for the corresponding available dates of the period from December 2018 to November 2019. The shoreline from the satellite image has been validated with the shoreline derived from the field collected beach profile data. The shoreline erosion and accretion have been compared with the sediment concentration map derived from the satellite images along the south Kerala coast. It is inferred that, with the use of satellite images, the relation between the erosion/accretion pattern and the suspended sediment pattern along the coast can be visualised and qualitatively studied.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the shoreline changes and suspended sediment concentration along the southern Kerala coast using Sentinel 2 MSI satellite images. It found a correlation between the suspended sediment pattern and erosion/accretion pattern along the coast through the use of satellite images.