Applications R+D:
- Shoreline monitoring
- Intertidal topography, surface and volume variation
- Beach users density
- Wave break zone, bar and rip currents detection
- Identification and monitoring of the erosion zones
- Beach regeneration monitoring
- Environmental impact of coastal structures
- Storms impact in the coast
- Swell monitoring
- Storm Water plume monitoring
Image interpretation: coastline detection
Once the picture is selected, the area of interest is chosen. Pixels from the area of study are separated into two groups using a contour detection algorithm (Morichon et al. 2007), based on a segmentation technique:
- A group of pixels representing a “dry” part (sandy beach).
- A group of pixels representing a “wet “part (ocean).
A new binary matrix of the zone of interest is created with the two groups of pixels. A contour detection algorithm, SOBEL, is applied to the new matrix in order to obtain the position of the coastline.
Image interpretation: Intertidal Topography
The hourly detection of the coastline position during a tidal semi-cycle enables the measurement of the intertidal beach topography.
Intertidal topography obtained with this technique gives good quantitative results and represents well the complex morphology of the beaches.