Solari, S.; Alonso, R., and Teixeira, L., 2018. Analysis of Coastal Vulnerability Along the Uruguayan Coasts. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 1536–1540. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.
The objective of this work is to identify the most vulnerable areas to coastal erosion on the Uruguayan coast. To this end, global wind and local waves and sea level reanalysis were used to estimate the littoral and aeolian sand transport rates (cross- and long-shore), the response of the beach profile to extreme events (by means of X-Beach model) and the supply of sand from rivers all along the Uruguayan coast, obtaining 18 years of three-hourly data. For each estimated variable, its intra- and inter-annual variability and its correlation with relevant climatic indexes were calculated. Using this information the sediment budget of the coast was analyzed at different scales: global (all the Uruguayan coast; O(100 km)), regional (physiographic units, O(10km)) and local (beach nodes; O(1km)). In turn, the above information was combined with a qualitative assessment of the coastal uses, obtaining a vulnerability index used to identify priority areas to undertake detailed studies.