[The Coastal Engineering Assessment on the Southern Coast ''Jizan Area'' of the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia]

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW3

Introduction3

Coastline Change detection using Remote sensing3

Coastal processes (tides, waves, winds, sediment transport - cross-shore and alongshore)8

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise13

Erosion18

Engineering and structures (shoreline impacts and failure)22

REFERENCES29

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction

Coastal engineering is a relatively new field. It has arisen from the need for specialized training in the complexities of coastal processes and in the design and construction techniques suited to the coastal environment(Fernandez- Armesto, 2009:pp. 24-29). Unfortunately, the number of coastal engineers is not keeping pace with the growing need for their skills, and unless this area receives attention at the national level the future will not be particularly bright for coastal engineers-or for coastal communities(Lieske, 2009: 85-87). The greatest challenge facing the discipline of coastal engineering is that the number of people living and working on or near U.S. coastlines is growing. At the same time, however, coastal hazards, changes in climate, extensive shoreline erosion and costly port maintenance are combining to make coastal areas both dangerous and expensive(Mabrook, 2010: pp.453-465).

Jizan Province, an area of 40,000 sq km, lies in the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia on the red sea with a population of approximately 1.2 million, including some 5,000 villages and cities(Hill, 2011:, pp.32-35). Its major city, Gizan , is home to the Port of Jazan, Saudi Arabia's third most important port on the Red Sea (Degens, 2010, pp- 333-349).

Coastline Change detection using Remote sensing

Coast is a unique environment in which atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere contact each other(Oblath, 2009:pp. 53-58). Coastline is one of the most important linear features on the earth's surface, which display a dynamic nature. Coastal zone, and its environmental management requires the information about coastlines and their changes. (De Jong, 2004: 133-137)

Coastal zone monitoring is an important task in sustainable development and environmental protection. For coastal zone monitoring, coastline extraction in various times is a fundamental work. Coastline is defined as the line of contact between land and the water body. Coastline is one of the most important linear features on the earth's surface, which has a dynamic nature (Winarso, et al., 2001). Remote sensing plays an important role for spatial data acquisition from economical perspective (Alesheikh, et al., 2003: 165). Optical images are simple to interpret and easily obtainable. Furthermore, absorption of infrared wavelength region by water and its strong reflectance by vegetation and soil make such images an ideal combination for mapping the spatial distribution of land and water. (Chen, 1998: 205-207) These characteristics of water, vegetation and soil make the use of the images that contain visible and infrared bands widely used for coastline mapping (DeWitt, et al., 2002: 235). Examples of such images are: TM (Thematic Mapper) and ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper) imagery (Moore, 2000: 365). Coastline change mapping for Urmia Lake by TM and ETM+ imagery is the main aim of this paper. Furthermore, a new semiautomatic approach for coastline extraction from TM and ETM+ imagery has been ...