Harnessing EO Data for Georgia’s Black Sea Coast Management
The ESA GDA Climate Resilience Consortium partnered with ADB’s Coastal Management team to support Georgia’s Ministry for Regional Development and Infrastructure. Using EO data, they assessed vulnerabilities along Georgia’s Black Sea coast. The study emphasises designing infrastructure to withstand current and future climate-related impacts.
Description
The European Space Agency (ESA) Global Development Assistance (GDA) Climate Resilience Consortium has collaborated with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Improved Coastal Management and Coastal Protection team to support Georgia’s Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure. Leveraging EO data, the GDA consortium conducted a comprehensive vulnerability assessment of Georgia’s Black Sea coast. When planning infrastructure, it is essential to account for climate change impacts to ensure resilience against both current extreme events and the increasingly severe and frequent climate-related challenges that countries like Georgia are expected to face.
Georgia’s infrastructure faces significant flood risks from rivers, heavy rainfall, and coastal flooding along the Black Sea. To enhance resilience, ADB is helping the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure develop climate-aware design codes, focusing on urban areas. Assessing current infrastructure vulnerability is crucial for effective planning and future project design.
The consortium, in collaboration with ADB, adapted the CoastSat tool to analyse 40 years of shoreline changes using satellite data, providing critical insights into erosion hotspots and the impact of natural and human activities. This data supports Georgia’s coastal management planning, and a follow-up project led by JBA Consulting will develop a modeling tool to predict shoreline changes and design effective protection strategies.
You can read more about this Case Study here: EO Data enhances vulnerability assessment of Georgia’s Black Sea coast