A national coastal erosion susceptibility model for Scotland

Fitton, J. M., Hansom, J. D. and Rennie, A. F. (2016) A national coastal erosion susceptibility model for Scotland. Ocean and Coastal Management, 132, pp. 80-89. (doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.08.018)

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Abstract

The upland nature of the Scottish landscape means that much of the social and economic activity has a coastal bias. The importance of the coast is further highlighted by the wide range of ecosystem services that coastal habitats provide. It follows that the threat posed by coastal erosion and flooding has the potential to have a substantial effect on the socioeconomic activity of the whole country. Currently, the knowledge base of coastal erosion is poor and this serves to hinder the current and future management of the coast. To address this knowledge gap, two interrelated models have been developed and are presented here: the Underlying Physical Susceptibility Model (UPSM) and the Coastal Erosion Susceptibility Model (CESM). The UPSM is generated within a GIS at a 50 m2 raster of national coverage, using data relating to ground elevation, rockhead elevation, wave exposure and proximity to the open coast. The CESM moderates the outputs of the UPSM to include the effects of sediment supply and coastal defence data. When validated against locations in Scotland that are currently experiencing coastal erosion, the CESM successfully identifies these areas as having high susceptibility. This allows the UPSM and CESM to be used as tools to identify assets inherently exposed to coastal erosion, areas where coastal erosion may exacerbate coastal flooding, and areas are inherently resilient to erosion, thus allow more efficient and effective management of the Scottish coast.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:This work was co-funded by an EPSRC Industrial Case PhD Studentship Award (1251451) and Scottish Natural Heritage.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Fitton, Mr James and Hansom, Dr James
Authors: Fitton, J. M., Hansom, J. D., and Rennie, A. F.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
Journal Name:Ocean and Coastal Management
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0964-5691
ISSN (Online):1873-524X
Published Online:31 August 2016
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2016 The Authors
First Published:First published in Ocean and Coastal Management 132:80-89
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
584861EPSRC Doctoral Training Grant 2011-2015Mary Beth KneafseyEngineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/J500434/1VICE PRINCIPAL RESEARCH & ENTERPRISE