Automatic Coastline Extraction and Change Detection Monitoring using LANDSAT Imagery

Global warming causes sea levels to rise and global changes apparently taking place including coastline changes. Coastline change due to sea level rise is also one of the most significant phenomena affected by global climate change. Accordingly, Coastline change detection can be utilized as an indicator of representing global climate change. Generally, Coastline change has happened mainly because of not only sea level rise but also artificial factor that is reclaimed land development by mud flat reclamation. However, Arctic coastal areas have been experienced serious change mostly due to sea level rise rather than other factors. The purposes of this study are automatic extraction of coastline and identifying change. In this study, in order to extract coastline automatically, contrast of the water and the land was maximized utilizing modified NDWI(Normalized Difference Water Index) and it made automatic extraction of coastline possibile. The imagery converted into modified NDWI were applied image processing techniques in order that appropriate threshold value can be found automatically to separate the water and land. Then the coastline was extracted through edge detection algorithm and changes were detected using extracted coastlines. Without the help of other data, automatic extraction of coastlines using LANDSAT was possible and similarity was found by comparing NLCD data as a reference data. Also, the results of the study area that is permafrost always frozen below showed quantitative changes of the coastline and verified that the change was accelerated.