Statistical deviations in shoreline detection obtained with direct and remote observations

Remote video imagery is widely used for shoreline detection, which plays a fundamental role in geomorphological studies and in risk assessment, but, up to now, few measurements of accuracy have been undertaken. In this paper, the comparison of video-based and GPS-derived shoreline measurements was performed on a sandy micro-tidal beach located in Italy (central Tyrrhenian Sea). The GPS survey was performed using a single frequency, code, and carrier phase receiver as a rover. Raw measurements have been post-processed by using a carrier-based positioning algorithm. The comparison between video camera and DGPS coastline has been carried out on the whole beach, measuring the error as the deviation from the DGPS line computed along the normal to the DGPS itself. The deviations between the two dataset were examined in order to establish possible spatial dependence on video camera point of view and on beach slope in the intertidal zone. The results revealed that, generally, the error increased with the distance from the acquisition system and with the wash up length (inversely proportional to the beach slope).