GNSS-based monitoring and mapping of shoreline position in support of planning and management of Matinhos/PR (Brazil)

Abstract

Monitoring and mapping variations in shoreline location is an activity that can be undertaken using several different techniques of data collection, e.g., photogrammetric restitution, satellite images, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) or classical topographical surveys to support coastal environmental protection such as identifying flood risk areas. The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) has been employed by the Federal University of Parana (UFPR) as part of their research into the application of geodetic survey methods for shoreline mapping in coastal environments since 1996. The advantages of using GNSS are accuracy and productivity, given that a great number of points can be determined within a short period of time at decimeter-level accuracy. In this work, GNSS relative kinematic positioning approach was applied to monitor Matinhos coastal district of Brazil. Other important data, such as the high- and low-tide marks, all obtained using GNSS, and thematic maps have also been incorporated.Through the reanalysis of historical surveys, it is possible to make some conclusions about the shoreline dynamics and to use this information as material in support of the planning and management of the coastal environment, for example, when planning engineering works that set out to minimize coastal erosion and for urban planning. The results achieved in this work include defining the position of the shoreline for 2008, developing the thematic map of the shoreline, the quantification of the advance and retreat of the shoreline between 2001 and 2008, and a map showing those critical areas where the shoreline position is equal to the high-tide water line. GNSS-based method offers quicker, all-weather, highly accurate and continuously updatable shoreline positional time series relevant for monitoring, thus enabling quicker management decisions to be undertaken, which may be of benefit to coastal engineering applications.