This book discusses the perceptions and sketches geological background materials and coastal
processes of the East Coast of India. It also suggests strategies for effectively managing
natural coastal processes in these areas. India has a coastline of about 7 516 km with a
variety of coastal extensions which developed at different time scales producing permanent
variations in the morphologies of the coastal areas through hydrodynamic fluvial aeolian and
terrestrial processes. The book focuses on the Balasore coast an area drained by three main
rivers (the Subarnarekha the Dugdeugi and the Burahbolong) which impacts the coastal
morphodynamic processes of the area and accounts for their multifaceted nature. Large drops or
increases in the sediment supply within a short time span or over prolonged periods cause
shoreline shifting. Eight satellite images from 1975 1980 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 and
2013 were used to measure the shoreline dynamics and a reference line was established using
first order polynomial model with base data with 0.5 pixel root mean square error (RMSE)
accuracy. The end point rate (EPR) model was adopted for estimating the future position of the
shoreline. In order to assess the beach morphodynamics the coastal modeling system (SMC) was
used which incorporates with a series of appliances and numerical models structured consistent
with the space and time scale of the different dynamics affecting the littoral and beach
morphology based on diverse thematic and reference documents. This study employed short-term
analysis using the MOPLA module of the SMC system which consists of three attached modules:
the wave transformation module (Oluca) the depth-averaged currents module (Copla) and the
sediment transport and morphological evolution module (Eros). The shoreline dynamics findings
show that the magnitude of erosion is higher in the northern part of the coastline in the left
bank area of the Subarnarekha river estuary and in the estuarine part of the Dugdugi and
Burahbalang rivers. The southern part of the shoreline near Rasalpur and Joydevkasba is
relatively stable and the study suggests that the current shoreline shift trend will continue
in the future. The SMC model indicates that the wave height significant wave height current
velocity and the potential transport of sediment at the Kirtaniya study point are high while
at Choumukh they are low and at the Rasalpur study point they are intermediate.
