Coastal hazards and extreme events are increasing in frequency due to climate change, making the littoral zone even more vulnerable and requiring continuous monitoring for its optimized management. The Ebro Delta ecosystem, located in the NW Mediterranean, was subject to storm Gloria in the winter of 2020, the most severe coastal storm registered in the area in decades. In this study, Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellites are used to monitor flooding impact and water quality status, including chlorophyll-a, suspended particulate matter, and turbidity to evaluate pre-, syn-, and post-storm scenarios. Image processing is carried out using the ACOLITE software and the on-the-cloud Google Earth Engine platform for water quality and flood mapping, respectively, showing a consistent performance for both satellites. This cost-effective methodology allows us to characterize the main water quality variations in the coastal environment during the storm. Moreover, the time series reveals how the detrimental impact on turbidity conditions was restored two weeks after the storm. These results, obtained within the H2020 EuroSea project, demonstrate that the used workflow using open satellite imagery at 10-30 m spatial resolution is suitable for monitoring the delta, thus providing valuable information for early warning to facilitate timely assistance and hazard impact evaluation. The integration of high-resolution remote sensing tools into ecological disaster management can significantly improve current monitoring strategies, supporting decision-makers from the local to the national level in prevention, adaptation measures, and damage compensation.

Primary Presenter: Isabel Caballero, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (isabel.caballero@icman.csic.es)

Authors:

Isabel Caballero,  Institute of Marine Sciences of Andalusia (ICMAN) - Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)   (isabel.caballero@icman.csic.es)

Mar Roca,  Institute of Marine Sciences of Andalusia (ICMAN) - Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)   (mar.roca@csic.es)

Martha Dunbar,  Institute of Marine Sciences of Andalusia (ICMAN) - Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)   (martha.dunbar@csic.es)

Gabriel Navarro,  Institute of Marine Sciences of Andalusia (ICMAN) - Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)   (gabriel.navarro@icman.csic.es)