The COASTLINE Project: Integrating Advanced Geospatial Technologies for Coastal Monitoring and Management

The COASTLINE project, funded by Horizon 2020’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, is a multidisciplinary initiative designed to advance the monitoring, evaluation, and management of European coastal areas through cutting-edge geospatial technologies. By integrating satellite data, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and in-situ measurements, the project aims to create high-resolution and multi-temporal datasets crucial for investigating coastal dynamics, including erosion patterns, ecological shifts, and the impacts of human activities. Therefore, COASTLINE’s main objective is to develop a user-friendly platform that enables stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers to access and visualize real-time coastal data. This platform will be populated through data from various sources, such as the Copernicus program, lidar technologies, and proprietary datasets, facilitating efficient monitoring and early detection of changes in coastal ecosystems. Additionally, the project uses advanced 2D and 3D visualization tools to illustrate coastal transformations and leverages machine learning algorithms to assess and predict future risks, such as flooding and subsidence. This paper presents the initially developed methodologies and results obtained on three case studies: i) Elounda (Greece), ii) Paphos (Cyprus), and iii) Margherita di Savoia (Italy). These locations, characterized by their diverse environmental and cultural heritage challenges, are ideal testing grounds for the project’s innovative approaches. Consequently, they provide critical insights for refining the developed tools and methods.