Coastal vulnerability assessment: through regional to local downscaling of wave characteristics along the Bay of Lalzit (Albania)

摘要

Coastal vulnerability isevaluated against inundation risk triggered by wave run-up through theevaluation of vulnerability levels (referred to as VLs) introduced byBosom and Jiménez (2011). VLs are assessed through different wave climatecharacterizations, referring to regional (offshore wave climate) or local(nearshore wave climate) scales. The study is set along the Bay of Lalzit, acoastal area near Durr?s (Albania). The analysis reveals that the resultsvary due to uncertainties inherent in the run-up estimation, showing that thecomputational procedure should be developed by taking into account detailedinformation about the local wave climate. Different approaches in choosingwave characteristics for run-up estimation significantly affect the estimateof shoreline vulnerability. The analysis also shows the feasibility andchallenges of applying VL estimates in contexts characterized by limited dataavailability through targeted field measurements of the coast geomorphologyand an overall understanding of the recent coastal dynamics and relatedcontrolling factors.