Assessment of coastal vulnerability to land-based sources of pollution and its application in Apulia, Italy.

The present paper deals with the assessment of the coastal vulnerability to pollution sources induced by land-based activities (LBAs). The coastal vulnerability is expressed and evaluated in relation to the land-based activities present in the coastal areas and a new index, namely Coastal Pollution Index from land-based activities (CPI_LBAs), is proposed. The index is calculated considering nine indicators using a transect-based approach.

Improvement of a coastal vulnerability index and its application along the Calabria Coastline, Italy.

The present paper further develops a coastal vulnerability index formulation (CVI) previously proposed by the authors by integrating a new variable and redefining three variables to improve the suitability of the index for low-lying coasts. Eleven variables are divided into three typological groups: geological, hydro-physical process and vegetation. The geological variables are: geomorphology, shoreline erosion/accretion rates, coastal slope, emerged beach width, and dune.