Proceedings of International Conference in Ocean Engineering, ICOE 2009, IIT Madras, Chennai, India INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR UNDIVIDED DAKSHINA KANNADA COAST USING REMOTE SENSING, GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM AND GLOBAL POSITION SYSTEM G. S. Dwarakish 1 and Usha Natesan 2 Abstract: Coastal zone is a triple interface of land, sea and air, is a dynamic area with many cyclic and random processes owing to a variety of resources and habitat. Coastal areas are under great pressure due to increase in human population and industrialization/commercialization and hence these areas are vulnerable to environmental degradation, resource reduction and user conflicts. In the present study an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP) has been developed for undivided Dakshina Kannada Coast in Karnataka, along West Coast of India. The various data products used in the present study includes remotely sensed data, Naval Hydrographic Charts and Survey of India (SOI) toposheets, in addition to ground truth data collected using GPS. Thematic maps such as land use/ land cover map, bathymetry map, shoreline configuration map, GPS survey map, CRZ map, contour map, DEM, inundation map, critical erosion area map were prepared. A Coastal Vulnerability Index has also been calculated for the study area to know the resistance of study area to sea level rise and is demarcated into four categories; Very high, High, Moderate and Low vulnerability, and a vulnerability map has been prepared. The results of the present study are encouraging. Some of the specific conclusions of the study are; about 50% study area is prone to erosion, river mouths along the study area show shifting tendency towards south, and the beaches along the undivided Dakshina Kannada Coast are maintaining dynamic equilibrium. Keywords: Shoreline configuration, naval hydrographic charts, coastal vulnerability index, digital elevation model, coastal regulation zone. INTRODUCTION Coastal environment plays a major vital role in nation’s economy by virtue of their resources, productive habitats and rich biodiversity. Nearly 250 million people live within a distance of 50 km from the coast. The coastal zone, which is a triple interface of land, ocean and atmosphere, is assuming greater importance in recent years, owing to increase in population, urbanization and accelerated developmental activities (Ramachandran 2001). India has a coastline of 7516 km, lakshadweep coast extends 132 km and Andaman and Nicobar islands have a coastline of 1962 km. The problems of Dakshina Kannada (D.K.) coastal area are identified as population pressure, environmental degradation, destruction of mangroves, coastal erosion, coastal pollution and urbanization. In the present study Coastal Zone Information System (CZIS) has been designed 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Mechanics and Hydraulics, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Srinivasnagar. P. O. 575 025, India, Email: dwaraki_gs@yahoo.com 2 Professor, Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai- 600 025, India, Email: u_natesan@yahoo.com