Ashis Kumar Paul

Anurupa Paul

This contributed volume assesses the state and future of India’s East Coast through a wide variety of chapters grouped by methodology and approach. Part I: Assessment through Geomorphological Approaches describes geomorphological diversities of the eastern shorelines of India, Coastal Modelling System- SMC and morphodynamics of Odisha coast, Paleo shorelines and beach ridge chenier formations of Subarnarekha delta, seasonal sediment budget of Chandrabhaga beachdune system, Beach stage and dune stage modelling Mandarmoni coast, drainage characters of South Andaman Islands, coastal foredune morphology and sediment of Odisha and West Bengal, Geo-archaeological pieces of evidence of ancient coastal environment, coastal sediment characters, beach ridge formation in the chenier coast, and geomorphological changes of ancient ports and harbours in the shoreline of West Bengal. Part II: Assessment through Environmental Approaches addresses various environmental assessment techniques of mangrove sensitivity to the sea level rise process in the Sundarban, land degradation of the hinterland drainage basins, the riparian environment of the coastal drainage basins, agricultural adaptability in response to climate variability in the coastal areas of West Bengal, forest degradations of the lateritic upland tracts, coastal tourism potentialities in Odisha and West Bengal, Climate variabilities and agricultural modifications in the hinterland areas of West Bengal districts, the tidal flat environment of Sagar Island, landforms and Geomorphosites for the promotion of Geotourism in South Andaman Perils of Premature Reclamation of Sundarban, marine litter in the coastal regions of West Bengal and Odisha on flora, fauna and humans, Ground water contamination due to saline water encroachment in coastal Andhra Pradesh and Spatio-temporal changes in the Hugli estuarine environment and coastal hazards and flood risk of southwestern Sundarban. Part III: Assessment through Remote Sensing & GIS Approaches uses the aforementioned techniques in service of exploration of monitoring health of Mangrove forest, Geomorphological analysis of the coral fringed coasts of Andaman, hydrological and morphological variations of Ichhamati Tidal estuary, multivariate analysis of coastal vulnerabilities, geography of tourism resources in Andaman group of islands, tourism climate index with application geospatial techniques, diversity of landscape ecology in the coastal blocks of Purba Medinipur, overwash vulnerability in Odisha coast, livelihood security index of the coastal communities, managing coastal squeeze response and wetland loss in the estuarine coastal tract of West Bengal, environmental effects of historical land reclamation process in the Sundarban, and emerging environmental problems of coastal urbanization in Digha, Kanthi, and Haldia.

Assessing India’s East Coast with Geomorphological, Environmental and Remote Sensing and GIS Approaches

Crisis on the Coast and Hinterland

Soumendu Chatterjee

Nilay Kanti Barman

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.

Ashis Kumar Paul

Books

Your next favorite book is out there