Synergetic Application of Aerial Photography, Remote Sensing Data, and GIS for Dynamic Monitoring of Fluvial Tidal Islands and Coastal Erosion Hazards in the Sundarbans Delta Plain of Bangladesh
摘要
This chapter focuses on monitoring and assessing spatial and temporal changes of Tinkona Island in the Passur tidal channel located in the tidally active coastal delta plains of Bangladesh’s Sundarbans Reserve Forest (SRF). Geoinformation techniques are used to monitor and assess the tidal system geomorphic dynamics between the years 1974 and 2023. On-screen digitization of the island boundary is attempted to create the island boundary layers and special attention is given throughout this process to acquire more precise outcomes. The layers are superimposed in order to visualize the position of the island boundary at each date. Island boundary positions are featured to construe the erosion/accretion areas along the island and the island dynamics are determined. Tinkona Island forms part of the huge intertidal zones commonly affected by monsoon season floods and deposition of fine sediments carried by tidal advective processes. Three regions (western, eastern, and northern) of the island are identified from the aerial photographs where the changes were evident. The western and northern parts of the island are dominated by erosion, while the eastern part of the island is subjugated by accretion. The total land area of the island was 1238 ha in 1974, decreasing to 1008 and 996 ha by 2011 and 2023, respectively, corresponding to a net erosion of 230 and 242 ha and an annual erosion rate of 6.22 and 4.94 ha, respectively. The process of fluvial tidal island evolution in the environmentally sensitive Sundarbans region reveals the highly delicate nature of biodiversity and the possible detrimental effects on its long-term viability throughout the entirety of the Bangladesh Sundarbans.