Description of Work Packages and Deliverables

Methodology: The coordinator (Assoc. Prof. S. Poulos, LPG_UOA) will be responsible for the organization and management of the project (WP-1.1), so that all tasks commence according to the work plan, progress is according to schedule and there is smooth and fruitful collaboration between all partners. He will be assisted by the Steering Committee (SC), which will be formed in the beginning of the project, meet regularly and consist of the coordinator, the leaders of the participating organizations, as well as some invited international experts (to be selected). The SC will be also responsible for fine-tuning the work, in order to meet the project’s schedule and for drawing alternative/contingency plans. The financial management of the project will be carried out by the coordinator, in co-operation with the Special Account for Research Grants (SARG) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (LPG_UOA) (WP-1.2). The project has also a training/educational dimension (e.g. support of PhD and MSc research, participation in workshops and conferences); this will be coordinated /managed in WP-1.3.

Deliverables:  Proceedings of the Launch Meeting (D-1); 12-monthProgress Report (D-2); 24-monthProgress Report (D-3);Final Project Report (D-4);Assessment of educational/training aspects (D-5).

Participants:DMS_UoA, DOO_TEIATH, TNET, Terra Spatium.

Tasks:WP-1.1: Project Coordination; WP-1.2: Financial Management;WP-1.3: Training Aspects

Methodology: A GIS-based database of the physical (spatial) characteristics (e.g. length, width, area) of the Greek beaches will be created (WP-2.1); human infrastructure (e.g. coastal protection schemes, coastal roads, housing and touristic infrastructure) will be also recorded. The basic information (beach spatial characteristics and infrastructure), will be based on the information present in the widely available application Google Earth Pro (Velegrakis et al., 2009). Where additional information (e.g. beach profiles, nature of beach sediments, meteorological data, socio-economic information) is available (e.g. held by the project partners or other organizations), it will also be stored in specific fields. The database will be combined with a GIS grid and will be fully dynamic, allowing the storage of new information as this becomes available; it is envisaged that information from high resolution satellite sensors, competent authorities and relevant stakeholders will be eventually included. On the basis of above information, a limited number of representative beaches of high touristic value will be selected for more detailed study (WP-2.2). Their physical and socio-economic characteristics will be appraised, in order to assess their environmental state and their socio-economic significance. These results will then be used to model/assess beach vulnerability (physical and socio-economic) to climatically-driven environmental changes (see WP- 9). Finally, 2-3 (pilot) beaches will be selected as experimental sites.

Deliverables: Protocol of beach database (D6)

Participants:DMS_UoA, Terra Spatium.

Tasks:WP-2.1: Database Construction;WP-2.2: Selection of (pilot) Experimental Sites

Methodology:All existing geo-environmental and socio-economic information on the selected (WP2-2) experimental sites will be collated and assessed. Historical high resolution satellite imagery will be obtained (see WP-5.1), together with historical aerial stereo photographs from suitable altitudes and topographic data (e.g. Hellenic Army Geographical Service maps 1: 5000) in order to assess/quantify historical rates of shoreline change (erosion) and human development (e.g. RiVAMP, 2010). Finally, relevant historical climatological (e.g. wind speed/direction, precipitation) and oceanographic (sea level, wave regime) information will be collated using the records of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) and the Hellenic Center of Marine Research-HCMR (WP3-1). The seasonal beach morphology/sedimentology of the selected sites will be studied through sub-aerial beach topographical surveys (using an RTK-DGPS) and nearshore (down to the closure depth) bathymetric/sedimentological surveys (using echosounders/side-scan sonars suitable for shallow surveys). Meteorological stations will be deployed, together with the Beach Optical Monitoring System-BOMS (see WP-4) in order to obtain a long time-series (at least a year) of concurrent optical and meteorological information, In addition, week- long integrated beach experiments will be undertaken. High frequency nearshore hydrodynamic and sediment dynamic data will be collected using an array of autonomous platforms instrumented with various sensors, e.g. pressure sensors (PS), Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters (ADVs) and Profilers (ADP, horizontal and vertical ADCPs) and Optical Back Scatterometers (OBSs). These data will be combined with (and tested against) optical data from the BOMS and a 3-D laser scanner (Terrestrial LIDAR, to be acquired through the project), to obtain information on the spatio-temporal distribution of the nearshore wave and current field (e.g. Park et al, 2011), wave run-ups (Vousdoukas et al., 2009b; Vousdoukas et al., 2011) and shoreline dynamics (e.g. Vousdoukas et al., 2011). The information obtained in this task (WP-3.2) will be also used to train/validate a state-of-the-art morphodynamic model (see WP-8).

Deliverables:Report on pilot beach experiments (D7)

Participants: LPG_UOA, Terra Spatium.

Tasks: WP 3.1: Collation/appraisal of existing information; WP-3.2: Integrated beach experiments

Methodology:An autonomous beach imaging system (BOMS), that can monitor high frequency beach (and shoreline) changes, will be developed. Optical information will be acquired through sets of synchronized digital video cameras suitably located, calibrated and geo-referenced, processed through custom –made algorithms (to be developed, see Vousdoukas et al., 2011) and stored at an internet- connected computer. The system will be deployed at the pilot experimental site(s) (beach(es)), obtaining beach imagery at hourly 15 min bursts during daylight; these will be then processed to provide time lapse images (TIMEX), variance images (SIGMA) and time-stack images. The TIMEX and SIGMA images will provide (hourly) information on the position of the coastline (Vousdoukas et al. 2011) and the nearshore morphological features, whereas processing of the time-stack images will generate time series of swash excursions, and wave run-up statistics and spectra (Vousdoukas et al. 2009b). The optical information will also be used to assess nearshore bathymetry changes through depth inversion, i.e. by recording wave celerity changes/energy dissipation (from white patches/foam) and using a wave propagation model and the dispersion relationship; this could provide time-series of non-intrusive observations of the surf zone bathymetry (e.g.Van Dongeren et al., 2008). The system’s morphological observations will be repeatedly tested/calibrated against data obtained by RTK-DGPS topographical surveys and 3-D laser scanner observations (WP-4.1). Information of the nearshore hydrodynamic field (e.g. position of rip currents) will be also obtained from the optical images, using the spatio-temporal distribution of the characteristics of the wave breaking zone. The concurrent deployment of the 3-D laser scanner will provide synchronous information on the nearshore wave field; the heights of breaking/broken waves will be estimated using the laser beam back-scatter from the bubbles/foam generated by wave breaking (e.g. Park et al., 2011) and compared with BOMS records of sea surface oscillations (along a vertical staff) and data from the high frequency pressure sensors of the autonomous platforms (see WP-3) (e.g. Velegrakis et al. 2007a; Vousdoukas et al, 2009b). The BOMS hydrodynamic information (WP-4.2) will be also used to train/validate a state-of-the-art hydrodynamic/morphodynamic model (WP-8) and validate high resolution satellite imagery (see WP-5).

Deliverables:Beach optical monitoring system-BEMS (Technical Report) (D8)

Participants:LPG_UOA, DOO_TEIATH, TNET.

Tasks:WP-4.1: Development /deployment of BOMS (morphological observations);WP-4.2: BOMS hydrodynamic observations

Methodology:High resolution remote sensing information from already operational satellite sensors (e.g. SPOT-5,  IKONOS-(pixel  0.8,  2-4  m),  Quickbird  (0.6-2.4  m),  Formosat,  WorldView-2,  Geoeye, TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X) and future missions (e.g. SPOT-6/7, Pleiades, TerraSAR-X2, Ingenio, PAZ)) will  be  used  to  define  the  characteristics  (e.g.  shoreline  length/position,  beach  width  and  area)  and medium-term   dynamics   of   selected   beaches.   Historical   satellite   imagery   will   be   selected   for acquisition/analysis in order to study the characteristics/dynamics of selected representative beaches (see WP-2.2). In addition, the selection of future satellite imagery of the experimental (pilot) beaches will be considered  depending  upon  the  research  logistics/timetables  of  the  integrated  beach  experiments,  to facilitate effective ground truthing (and error estimation) (WP-5.1).The historical satellite imagery will be analysed together with other remote sensing and environmental information (see also WP-3.1) to obtain historical rates of beach morphological change and erosion (e.g. RiVAMP, 2010). The accuracy/controls of these rates (for the selected beaches), will be assessed through detailed beach experiments at the experimental (pilot) beaches (see below) and the information will be (a) included in the database and (b) used to feed and fine-tune the Beach Vulnerability Index (BVI, see WP8-1) (WP-5.2). High resolution imagery of the pilot beaches (to be acquired during the time of the integrated beach experiments, see WP-3.1 and 3.2) will be compared with relevant ground truth data from the BOMS (e.g. shoreline positions, wave run-up excursions), reflectance measurements from the dry and wet sub-aerial part of the beach, beach topography from the 3-D laser scanner and RTK-DGPS surveys and beach sedimentological data from surficial sediment sampling (processed where necessary with fuzzy logic algorithms). It is envisaged that this exercise will form an important step towards an improved assessment of the accuracy and controls of the satellite information to define shoreline positions (e.g. BEACHMED, 2008) (WP-5.3). Finally, the ability (and controls) of the high resolution satellite imagery to provide accurate information on nearshore bathymetry (Lazenca et al., 2006) will be explored through its comparison with: topographic and seabed type information obtained by shallow marine surveys and the processing of the BOMS and 3-D laser scanner data (WP-4.1); synoptic nearshore wave height information obtained from the 3-D laser scanner (WP-4.2); and nearshore turbidity observations from the autonomous platforms and the BEMS (WP-5.4).

Deliverables:Assessment of the accuracy/controls of high resolution satellite imagery (D9)

Participants: Terra Spatium, DOO_TEIATH, DMS_UoA.

Tasks:WP-5.1: Selection of high resolution satellite images to be acquired/analysed;WP-5.2: Beach morphodynamic changes /erosion rates for the selected beaches;WP-5.3: Satellite imagery assessment;WP-5.4: Experiments on the ability of high resolution satellite imagery to define nearshore bathymetry.

Methodology:A telemetric beach environmental monitoring system (BEMS), based on an existing ‘prototype’ designed within the framework of the PYTHAGORAS Project (EPEAEK ΙΙ; Ghionis et al., 2006) will be further developed and tested (WP-6.1). The system will incorporate sensors for obtaining shallow water temperature, salinity and turbidity data, wave heights and periods, air temperature and humidity, solar radiation, UV radiation, wind speed/direction and atmospheric pressure; this information will be stored, and communicated in a quasi-real time mode. In addition, the information generated by the BEMS will be processed to obtain meta-data suitable to feed into particular modules of the integrated BEMS system (WP-6.2)

Deliverables:Report on Beach Environmental Monitoring System (BEMS) (D10)

Participants:LPG_UOA, DMS_UoAg.

Tasks:WP-6.1: Development/testing of BEMS;WP-6.2: Data analysis and development of integration modules

Methodology:An integrated system (BHAMS) for monitoring beach human activities (in real time) will be developed by TNET. The basic hardware component will be a state-of-the-art ‘spherical’ video camera, consisting of 5-6 integrated video cameras that can provide a 360° view of the beach. In addition, a number of standard video cameras and ‘thermal-infrared’ cameras (for detecting people in the water for safety/lifesaving operations) will be positioned at strategic locations on the beach; The hardware will be weatherproof and remotely-controlled. The system will have a control software and interface that will integrate the images from all cameras into an interactive user-friendly environment, so that the user/viewer will have total control of the viewpoint within a 360° spherical image of the beach; he will be able to select different beach locations and ‘transfer’ the viewpoint to the standard video and infrared cameras (the location of which will be indicated by ‘hot spots’ in the spherical images) so that he could obtain more detailed views of a particular part of the beach (WP-7.1). Issues of sensitive personal information will also be addressed. Algorithms performing ‘thresholding’ techniques on the video images will be constructed; these will identify people as objects (i.e. eliminating facial characteristics) and estimate beach user numbers (and activities) at each beach sector (e.g. Jimenez et al., 2007). These algorithms/techniques should be able to work with acceptable accuracy during periods with sufficient light conditions (e.g. Williams et al., 2007) (WP-7.2). Finally, the system will be integrated, addressing issues of optimization of the continuous data flow, internet connectivity and web-dissemination, and (meta-)data storing for beach management planning, and (possibly) alarm procedures (for life-saving operations) (WP-7.3).

Deliverables:Report on Beach Human Activities Monitoring System (BHAMS) (D11)

Participants:LPG_UOA, DOO_TEIATH.

Tasks:WP-7.1: Development of the interactive system;WP-7.2: Specialised algorithms;WP-7.3, System Integration (BHAMS) and testing

Methodology:A specialized index (Beach Vulnerability Index-BVI, see Alexandrakis et al., 2011) to assess beach vulnerability to erosion will be further developed, tested and applied. The index incorporates a set of variables controlling beach evolution, such as longshore sediment transport, cross-shore transport, riverine inputs, storm surge, wave run-up, tidal range and aeolian sediment transport, and will be tested/improved using the comprehensive information collected within the framework of the proposed project (see WP-2, 3 and 5) (WP-8.1). Future short- and long term sea level changes will be estimated on the basis of both historical information and trends of mean and extreme sea levels and outputs of atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs) for the Mediterranean Sea, downscaled for the Greek coasts (e.g. Marcos et al., 2009; Tsimplis & Shaw, 2010). The historical wind/wave regimes will be investigated using archived information of the HNMS and the POSEIDON Project of HCMR and storm surge heights will be predicted under different scenarios. (WP-8.2). An existing state-of-the-art quasi-3D Boussinesq-type model (e.g. Karambas & Karathanassi, 2004), describing non-linear breaking and non-breaking wave propagation and wave-induced currents, will be developed further to include robust sediment transport and morpho dynamic routines for the surf and swash zones. The model will then be used to model the hydro- dynamics/morphodynamics of the experimental sites (including beach user hazards, such as rip currents, see Johnson & Pattiarachi (2006)), being set up, forced, trained & validated through the comprehensive morphological and hydrodynamic data sets that will be collected (WP-3). Finally, the validated model will be used to predict beach morphodynamics under different scenarios of storm surges (WP-8.3).

Deliverables:Beach Vulnerability Index (BVI) methodology (D12);Report on Sea level change forecast (D13);Morphodynamic model development and predictions (D14).

Participants:LPG_UOA, Terra Spatium.

Tasks:WP-8.1: Development/testing of a Beach Vulnerability Index (BVI);WP-8.2: Mean and extreme sea level trends and forecastsWP-8.3: Beach morphodynamic model development, training & validation

Methodology:A collation, comparison and assessment of existing beach monitoring and management frameworks, procedures and recommendations (e.g. Williams et al., 2007) will be carried out (WP-9.1). Using market value methodologies, the economic dimension of beaches will be examined in terms of asset value and the contribution of the beach-related activities to the local economies (e.g. Callaway 2004). Non-market valuation tools will be applied to estimate the (social) value of goods and services, such as non-use values related to the protection offered by beaches to the assets/ecosystems they front (e.g. Bateman et al, 2002). The costs of worsening climatic conditions (e.g. costs due to beach erosion, and/or changing coastal hydrodynamics due to intensification of storms/storms surges) will be assessed, together with the costs/benefits of various adaptation measures (WP-9.2). Finally, the costs/benefits of the BEMS and management recommendations and practices will be assessed (WP-9.3).

Deliverables:Management scheme for sustainable development of Greek touristic beaches (D15)

Participants:LPG_UOA.

Tasks:WP- 9.1: Review of existing beach onitoring/management procedures;WP-9.2: Valuation of beach goods and services and adaptation measures to sea level changes;WP-9.3: Cost/benefit analysis of beach monitoring and management schemes

Methodology:The scientific results of the project will be synthesized, and an internet site will be constructed (and linked to the site of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology) to provide public access to program objectives, description of the consortium, employed methodologies, associated links, findings and work in progress (WP-10.1). The various components of the system (BOMS, BEMS, BHAMS) will be integrated into a Beach Monitoring System (BEMS), that can provide information on beach hydrodynamics and morphodynamics, environmental conditions, beach usage and hazards and the habits and types of recreational activities (e.g. beach walking, sunbathing, swimming); this information will provide valuable data to coastal councils, management authorities and the tourist industry to help future beach planning and management, especially under a climate change regime. The BMS will be a fully automated and integrated observation system for beach monitoring, the modules of which can also operate independently. The system, which will be deployed at the experimental (pilot) beaches, will also be linked to the internet site of the Project, for quasi-real time displays and provision of meta-data (WP-10.2). Meetings and workshops will be organized to communicate the results to competent authorities and stakeholders, whereas dissemination to the wider scientific community will take place through the publication of scientific articles and participation in scientific conferences (WP 10-3).

Deliverables:Main Project Results (Technical Report) (D-16);Project’s website, BEMS and its Protocol (D-17);List (with abstracts) of the scientific articles of the project (D-18).

Participants:DMS_UoA, DOO_TEIATH, TNET, Terra Spatium.

Tasks:WP-10.1: Project’s Internet SiteWP-10.2: Beach Monitoring System (BEMS) integration and dissemination WP-10.3: Result Dissemination