A radiometric contouring approach to map the shoreline

Abstract

Estimating the accurate position of the shoreline over time can be challenging. We propose a new approach to delimit the shoreline from remotely sensed images simply and accurately. This approach treats pixels as simultaneous radiometric measurements, and by examining the distance between iso-radiometry lines, it assumes the shoreline in the position where the radiometric behaviour changes more suddenly. The analyses carried out applying this coastline extraction approach underscore its significant flexibility. Specifically, the approach yielded promising outcomes even if applied to a variety of different and dissimilar types of remotely sensed products. Indeed, the intrinsic straightforwardness and low computational load of the approach qualify it as a promising tool for time-series production