A Model for Determining the Classification, Vulnerability and Risk in the Southern Coastal Zone of the Marche (Italy)
Keywords:
Coastal classification, vulnerability, risk, Adriatic Sea, ItalyAbstract
A method is proposed for the classification of coasts with the aim of providing a tool for more correct planning and management of the coastline. The 70-km long southern coast of the Marche was subdivided into 24 stretches, each of which were described by fifteen variables: three describe the hydrodynamic and energy characteristics of the coast; four describe the evolutionary trends of the beach; seven describe the morphological and sedimentological features of the exposed beach and of the sea floor; and one quantifies the degree of human intervention. The matrix of the variables was processed using factor analysis and cluster analysis. The results of this investigation enabled us to determine the relationships between the variables and to group similar coastal tracts. This in turn allowed us to classify the coastal zones and to attribute a degree of flood vulnerability to each one. Subsequently, by relating the vulnerability to the degree of urbanization, a risk level was defined for each of the coastal stretches.