The BEACHTOUR Project is a synergy for the sustainable development and safety of the Hellenic Tourist Beaches. The partners are:
The main objectives of the BEACHTOUR project are:
(b) an innovative, remotely controlled/interactive visual monitoring system based on custom-developed spherical video cameras (with a 360 degrees view-field), which can monitor in real time beach user numbers, flow, activities and safety at beaches of high touristic value.
- Laboratory of Physical Geography (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
- The Department of Marine Sciences (University of the Aegean)
- Department of Optics and Optometry (Technological Educational Institute of Athens
- TechNETropia Ltd
- TERRA SPATIUM SA
The main objectives of the BEACHTOUR project are:
- To provide a GIS-based, dynamic and user-friendly platform for storing and visualizing information on the environmental characteristics of the Greek beaches (e.g. beach length, width, area, sediments and wave regime) as well as information pertinent to beach management, such as the presence of coastal protection schemes / infrastructure, beach accessibility and facilities, using readily available (web-based) remote sensing information tested against high resolution satellite imagery.
- To develop/test a low cost video imaging system, which can record, process with innovative image processing routines, and communicate (in quasi-real time) high frequency information on shoreline position, wave breaking zones and wave run-up. This system will run in parallel with
(b) an innovative, remotely controlled/interactive visual monitoring system based on custom-developed spherical video cameras (with a 360 degrees view-field), which can monitor in real time beach user numbers, flow, activities and safety at beaches of high touristic value.
- To integrate the above systems into an automated observation system for beach monitoring (Beach Monitoring System-BEMS); the BEMS will be deployed at touristic beach(es) for extensive tests using a variety of field observations obtained through the deployment of classic and innovative research approaches. The information on beach morphodynamics, environmental parameters and human activities will be stored, processed and displayed (in almost real time), as discrete modules that can be operated both independently and in an integrated manner. It is envisaged that the system will be user friendly, have a reasonable cost and demand minimum expertise to run, so that it can be an effective management tool.
- To assess the accuracy/sensitivity of high resolution remote-sensed beach images to define the spatial characteristics of the beach and nearshore bathymetry, through comparison with various ground truth data.
- To advance a state-of-the-art quasi-3-D morphodynamic model and test/train it (for the first time) in the field, using integrated field information of comparable spatio-temporal resolution obtained through the concurrent deployment of the BEMS video cameras, a 3-D laser scanner (Terrestrial LIDAR) and sets of high frequency hydrodynamic/sediment dynamic sensors. It is envisaged that this exercise will improve substantially our understanding and provide insights into the complex interrelationships between coastal hydrodynamics / sediment dynamics and beach morphology / erosion.
- To identify present ‘best practices’ in science-driven beach monitoring, management and decision making, make a detailed assessment of the economic impacts of the mean and extreme sea level changes at selected beaches, estimate the costs/benefits of beach monitoring and management, develop methodologies / approaches that can link beach vulnerability to economic losses and suggest effective adaptation measures, with special reference to the Greek beaches.
