Beach Morphology Near the Inlet of Chilika Lagoon

The sandy beach, which represents a transitional zone between terrestrial and oceanic environment, is always in motion and frequently changes its landform due to the exposure to wind, ocean waves, tide, and river discharge. In the present study, an attempt has been made to understand the complex dynamics of shorefront of Chilika and its spatiotemporal variability for effective management of its inlet system. To carry out beach morphology study, several observations were made which include seasonal beach profile and shoreline using RTK-GPS during December 2008–November 2013. Besides, the seasonal wave characteristics near the inlet are collected from ECMWF for understanding wave impact over the inlet system and the associated sandbars. Beach Morphology Analysis Package (BMAP) developed by Coastal Engineering Design Analysis System (CEDAS), Veritech Inc. is used to compute beach width and volume. Results of the above observation indicate that the spatiotemporal variability of beach morphology is mostly attributed to complex hydrodynamic conditions persistent near the inlet as well as to the occurrence of cyclonic events in the Bay of Bengal. Hence, understanding beach morphology and associated physical processes and their variability in spatiotemporal scales are very important for effective inlet management and conservation of the lagoon ecosystem.