Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms
Satellite remote sensing is becoming a widely used monitoring technique in coastal sciences. Yet, no benchmarking studies exist that compare the performance of popular satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms against standardized sets of inputs and validation data. Here we present a new benchmarking framework to evaluate the accuracy of shoreline change observations extracted from publicly available satellite imagery (Landsat and Sentinel-2). Accuracy and precision of five established shoreline mapping algorithms are evaluated at four sandy beaches with varying geologic and oceanographic conditions. Comparisons against long-term in situ beach surveys reveal that all algorithms provide horizontal accuracy on the order of 10 m at microtidal sites. However, accuracy deteriorates as the tidal range increases, to more than 20 m for a high-energy macrotidal beach (Truc Vert, France) with complex foreshore morphology. The goal of this open-source, collaborative benchmarking framework is to identify areas of improvement for present algorithms, while providing a stepping stone for testing future developments, and ensuring reproducibility of methods across various research groups and applications.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2023 |
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Title | Benchmarking satellite-derived shoreline mapping algorithms |
DOI | 10.1038/s43247-023-01001-2 |
Authors | Kilian Vos, Kristen D. Splinter, Jesus Palomar-Vázquez, Josep E. Pardo-Pascual, Jaime Almonacid-Caballer, Carlos Cabezas-Rabadán, Etienne Kras, Arjen Luijendijk, Floris Kalkoen, Luis P. Almeida, Daniel Pais, Antonio Henrique da Fontoura Klein, Yongjing Mao, Daniel Harris, Bruno Castelle, Daniel Buscombe, Sean Vitousek |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | Communications Earth & Environment |
Index ID | 70251891 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center |