Blom to monitor Corsica’s coastal erosion

20 October 2009, 9:31am

Blom Aerofilms, Blom Group’s UK subsidiary, has been awarded a contract to undertake a bathymetric survey of the Corsican coastline to provide detailed information about ongoing coastal erosion on the Mediterranean island as well as to assess the impact of man-made structures both on future erosion and navigation safety.

Blom, leading European provider of map data and geographic information, has been awarded a contract by BRGM, the French Geological Survey, in partnership with OEC (Office de l'Environnement de la Corse) and with the contribution of AERMC (Agence de l'Eau Rhône Méditerranée Corse), to undertake an aerial bathymetric LiDAR survey of the Oriental Coastal Plain of Corsica, providing some 120km² of new data. Blom’s data capture and processing for the new Corsican initiative is expected to be completed by January 2010.

This investigation, included in the Corsican Coastal monitoring network (OEC-BRGM), will provide the first accurate digital elevation model of the oriental coastal plain. This information will permit to describe complex coastal morphologies and to develop numerical tools for the understanding and prediction of coastal hazards (erosion, marine inundation, storm impacts) and coastal risks. High quality and high resolution datasets will help to better prepare coastal planning and adaptation strategies.

Key to the success of this new initiative will be the use of the specialist HawkEye II scanner, with its unique capability to capture precision data from both land and seabed terrains simultaneously in just one aerial pass. Bathymetric and topographic data will be used to create a continuous digital elevation model of both the sea and the contiguous land. The data from HawkEye II scanner will provide important insights into the condition of the coastline, including the spatial imprint of man-made structures such as breakwaters and their consequences on the environment as well as that of coastal houses and other developments. In addition, the fine detail in the cloud points’ density produced through the LiDAR survey will help identify very small scale variations in the height and roughness of the underwater ground surface, exposing the morphology of the sand dunes identifying any sandbars and producing data that can then be employed to develop hydrodynamic models to tackle any local build up of sediments.

HawkEye II laser data can also be used to determine and analyse the geology at the sea bottom. It can be employed to accelerate the availability and accuracy of nautical charting, identifying the shape of the seabed as well as pinpointing the position and exact size of any man-made structures or obstructions.

Blom Aerofilms

BRGM

Geo: International