Advances in Applied Remote Sensing to Coastal Environments Using Free Satellite Imagery

Remote sensing emerges as a very effective technique to capture the dynamics of the coastal system, as it provides a holist view of the system at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. However, the recent thrive of these systems has led to a broad variety of sensors and data, which can difficult the choice of the optimal sensor for a practical application. In mesoscale coastal environment applications and considering the universe of the solutions, Landsat program arises as a good compromise between spectral, radiometric, spatial and temporal resolutions, combined with free data access, supported by an efficient data sharing platform. The capabilities of the Landsat program was recently extended with the launch of a new satellite – Landsat 8, with improved radiometric and spectral resolution, opening the door to new studies. This work describes the applicability of these images in four case studies that demonstrates the potentialities of the Landsat program in what concerns: (1) time coverage – long-term evolution of an ephemeral ebb delta island; (2) frequency of coverage – seasonal evolution of a short-lived beach; (3) radiometric resolution – shoreline detection and extraction; (4) spectral resolution – bathymetric data retrieval.