Storm-induced coastal hazard assessment at regional scale: application to Catalonia (NW Mediterranean)

摘要

A methodology for coastal hazard assessment at regional scale ispresented and applied to the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean). The methodseparately evaluates erosion and inundation hazards by using wave timeseries and beach characteristics (slope and sediment grain size). Obtainedhazard time series are fitted to extreme probability distributions fordifferent coastal sectors which are defined in function oflocal wave climate. This approach allows to compare the spatial variationof hazard intensities for a given probability of occurrence and, thus, toobjectively identify the most hazardous areas along the coast in terms oferosion and inundation. Obtained results indicate that the coast north ofBarcelona is more hazardous than the southern coast regarding inundationfor any given probability. With respect to storm-induced erosion, the centralcoast of Catalonia is the less hazardous area, although spatial variationsin erosion along the coast are smaller than the observed for inundation.