Coastal Vulnerability Assessment of the Tabou-Fresco Coastline (Côte D’Ivoire) Using Earth Observation Data

The Ivorian coastline is subject to marine submersion and coastal erosion. And it calls for a sustainable decision-making process for the Ivorian coastline. This research assessed the vulnerability of the Tabou-Fresco coastline (Côte d’Ivoire West coastline) to erosion and marine flooding using satellite images (Sentinel 2, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission) and statistical data. The aim was to identify the sections of the coastline represented by grid using the grid methods, that are highly vulnerable, as well as the factors that underlie this vulnerability. Oceanic forcing processes (tidal height, wave height, wind speed) and geological factors (geomorphology, coastal slope, coastline evolution) were analysed to assess this vulnerability using coastal vulnerability index (CVI) calculated for each grid cell. The results indicate a spatial vulnerability that is strongly dependent on geomorphology, coastal slope and shoreline evolution. The resulting index values classifies 25.8% of the grid cells as very highly vulnerable, 14.51% as highly vulnerable, 22.58% as moderately vulnerable and 37.09% as less vulnerable.