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Mapping Coastal Futures: Tackling Coastline Erosion through Advanced Earth Observation and Community Engagement
From October 6 to 12, 2024, the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) under the Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) initiative, funded by Geoscience Australia conducted a field mission in Djibouti. This mission is a key component of a six-month project on “Coastline Erosion Mapping,” aimed at utilizing Earth Observation data to identify and map hotspots of coastline erosion. By employing advanced tools and technologies, this initiative seeks to address the pressing challenges of coastal degradation and promote sustainable management practices.
Over the course of six days, RCMRD collaborated with the Centre d’Étude et de Recherche de Djibouti (CERD) to conduct field data collection, engage national stakeholders, and gather ground labels for erosion hotspots. The partnership between RCMRD, CERD, and local communities played a role in collecting data needed to calibrate and validate erosion mapping models. This mission emphasized a coordinated approach, with two dedicated teams, including CERD experts, working closely with stakeholders and community members. The teams collected data on coastline changes, erosion trends, and the underlying causes of these changes. Local informants provided invaluable insights into the impacts of erosion, highlighting the threats posed by sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and human activities.
Preliminary coastline erosion products were developed using the Coastlines workflow notebooks available on the DEA Sandbox platform. These initial findings were shared with CERD for review before the commencement of field activities. To streamline the data collection process, a data capture tool was created using the Kobo Toolbox. The tool enabled the collection of detailed information such as the date of data capture, location specifics (latitude, longitude, altitude, and accuracy), coastal change types, rates of change, probable causes, and photographs of erosion hotspots.
The field mission targeted specific geographic areas for coastline erosion and deposition hotspot mapping. These included the Loyada region coastline, the Tadjoura region coastline, the Obock region coastline, and the Djibouti city coastline. A total of 38 sample erosion hotspots were recorded across these regions, providing a comprehensive dataset for further analysis. The Digital Earth Africa Coastlines Service supported this effort by providing satellite data and tidal modeling. This service allowed for the identification of historical and current shoreline changes, empowering decision-makers to monitor erosion rates, assess the impacts of management strategies, and model responses to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. The data collected during the mission will be instrumental in refining erosion models and informing policy decisions to mitigate these impacts.
Looking ahead, the project will provide training on coastline erosion mapping to various key institutions in Djibouti, including the Centre d’Étude et de Recherche de Djibouti (CERD), the Agence Nationale de Météorologie, the ONG Collectif des Associations de Bénévolats, and several government ministries such as the Ministère de l’Agriculture et de l’Élevage, Ministère de l’Environnement et de Développement Durable, Ministère des Affaires Sociales et des Solidarités, and Ministère de la Femme et de la Famille.
The field mission targeted specific geographic areas for coastline erosion and deposition hotspot mapping. These included the Loyada region coastline, the Tadjoura region coastline, the Obock region coastline, and the Djibouti city coastline. A total of 38 sample erosion hotspots were recorded across these regions, providing a comprehensive dataset for further analysis. The Digital Earth Africa Coastlines Service supported this effort by providing satellite data and tidal modeling. This service allowed for the identification of historical and current shoreline changes, empowering decision-makers to monitor erosion rates, assess the impacts of management strategies, and model responses to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. The data collected during the mission will be instrumental in refining erosion models and informing policy decisions to mitigate these impacts.
Looking ahead, the project will provide training on coastline erosion mapping to various key institutions in Djibouti, including the Centre d’Étude et de Recherche de Djibouti (CERD), the Agence Nationale de Météorologie, the ONG Collectif des Associations de Bénévolats, and several government ministries such as the Ministère de l’Agriculture et de l’Élevage, Ministère de l’Environnement et de Développement Durable, Ministère des Affaires Sociales et des Solidarités, and Ministère de la Femme et de la Famille.
