This book discusses the perceptions and sketches, geological background,
materials and coastal processes of the East Coast of India. It also
suggests strategies for effectively managing natural coastal processes
in these areas. India has a coastline of about 7,516 km with a variety
of coastal extensions, which developed at different time scales,
producing permanent variations in the morphologies of the coastal areas
through hydrodynamic, fluvial, aeolian and terrestrial processes. The
book focuses on the Balasore coast, an area drained by three main rivers
(the Subarnarekha, the Dugdeugi and the Burahbolong), which impacts the
coastal morphodynamic processes of the area and accounts for their
multifaceted nature.
Large drops or increases in the sediment supply within a short time span
or over prolonged periods cause shoreline shifting. Eight satellite
images from 1975, 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2013 were used
to measure the shoreline dynamics, and a reference line was established
using first order polynomial model with base data with 0.5 pixel root
mean square error (RMSE) accuracy. The end point rate (EPR) model was
adopted for estimating the future position of the shoreline. In order to
assess the beach morphodynamics, the coastal modeling system (SMC) was
used, which incorporates with a series of appliances and numerical
models structured consistent with the space and time scale of the
different dynamics affecting the littoral and beach morphology based on
diverse thematic and reference documents. This study employed short-term
analysis using the MOPLA module of the SMC system, which consists of
three attached modules: the wave transformation module (Oluca), the
depth-averaged currents module (Copla) and the sediment transport and
morphological evolution module (Eros).
The shoreline dynamics findings show that the magnitude of erosion is
higher in the northern part of the coastline in the left bank area of
the Subarnarekha river estuary and in the estuarine part of the Dugdugi
and Burahbalang rivers. The southern part of the shoreline near Rasalpur
and Joydevkasba is relatively stable, and the study suggests that the
current shoreline shift trend will continue in the future. The SMC model
indicates that the wave height, significant wave height, current
velocity and the potential transport of sediment at the Kirtaniya study
point are high, while at Choumukh they are low and at the Rasalpur study
point they are intermediate.
