Detection of Shoreline Change and Analysis of Its Environmental Impact Applied the Remote Sensing Methods in the Pearl River Estuary, China

For the analysis of the changes of the coastlines since 1966, topographical and nautical data have been used, in combination with multi-temporal Landsat images and a SPOT scene. It can be concluded that the largest variations in the position of the coastline over time occurred in the Nansha Development Zone, situated in the Northern part of Lingdingyang bay. Sedimentation and land reclamation was responsible for the growth of the islands in the period 1960 to 2000, which however decreased slightly in the years after. Various large changes occurred also in the East of the bay along the coast of Shekou peninsula, caused by extensive harbour construction and growth of polder systems. The changes of coast in the North-East are relatively minor. Based on the research of the coastline change in recent decades, suspended sediment plume distribution and its sedimentation, it is suggested that the west of Waterway in the estuary may not suite for large number of construction for harbours, due to the sedimentation and fill up. One of the most important impacts of the coastline changes in area is narrow down and extension of river channel which results in more floods in the upper of the river.