Can the ground laser scanning technology be useful for coastal defenses monitoring?

Abstract

The problem of coastal erosion affects dramatically the Apulia region (Italy). For the last fifty years the coastal strip of Manfredonia Gulf has undergone an evident retreat due to human activities. In response to this retreat almost 300 coastal defense works have been built up. In this paper we summarize the recent evolution of Manfredonia Gulf coastline emphasizing the role of coastal defenses. Moreover a first attempt of ground laser scanner monitoring of the defenses is presented. Our conclusion about the coastal defenses is that the response strategy to the problem of erosion has been losing because of three reasons: 1) lack of interventions coordination, 2) scarce knowledge of the local coastal dynamics and 3) null maintenance of the works. The preliminary results of laser scanning survey have given useful information to plan a widespread monitoring of the apulian coastal defenses. Apulia Regional Government has recently accomplished a program of coastline monitoring. We show here how collected and collecting data will be useful to assess the response of the coastal defenses to the local wave climate and therefore to improve their planning.