Coastal erosion at Saint Louis in Senegal is affecting the local population that consists of primarily fishermen communities in their housing and their access to the sea. This paper aims at quantifying urban beach erosion at Saint Louis, Senegal, West Africa which is located on the northern end of the 13 km long Langue de Barbarie sand spit. The coastal evolution is examined quantitatively over a yearly period using Pleiades sub-metric satellite imagery that allows for stereogrammetry to derive Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). The comparison with ground truth data shows sub-metric differences to the satellite DEMs. Despite its interest in remote areas and developing countries that cannot count on regular surveys, the accuracy of the satellite-derived topography is in the same order as the coastal change itself, which emphasizes its current limitations. These 3D data are combined with decades-long regular Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery derived shorelines. These observations reveal that the sand spit is stretching, narrowing at its Northern part while it is lengthening downdrift Southward, independently from climatological changes in the wave regime. A parametric model based on a stochastic cyclic sand spit behaviour allows for predicting the next northern opening of a breach and the urban erosion at Saint Louis.

Understanding beach dynamics, both in time and in space, is paramount to better understand how and when to intervene to improve coastal management strategies. Beach morphodynamics is expressed in a variety of ways. As indicators of beach change, we can measure the shoreline, the beach topography, and the bathymetry; e.g., in situ measurements rarely cover large extents, are often collected on a local scale (beach), and rarely cover a sufficient time span with a sufficient surveying frequency or a simultaneous measurement of the beach and bar system. Regular-revisit satellites, such as the ESA’s Sentinel-2 mission, provide the opportunity to regularly monitor both shoreline and sandbar dynamics, and the time span is increasing and likely to continue for the decades to come. Using the satellite-derived shoreline and bar position, here, we show that the shoreline and bar are intrinsically coupled. Using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, we show that the actual erosion/accretion status of the beach at Saint Louis (Senegal) is strongly influenced by the sandbar dynamics. There is a coupled behavior in their seasonal evolution and trend. Our results show that a very large accretive wave of about 50 m observed on the beach is driven by a local welding of the inner sandbar to the beach. Finally, we conclude that this type of event could be anticipated by an analysis of the sandbar.

Ndour, A.; Ngom, H.; Diadhiou, Y.B., and Ba, K., 2024. Effect of coastal protection works on shoreline variability in Rufisque, Senegal. In: Phillips, M.R.; Al-Naemi, S., and Duarte, C.M. (eds.), Coastlines under Global Change: Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2024 (Doha, Qatar). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 113, pp. 326-329. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Coastal erosion, which is a threat to the Rufisque coastline, induced the building of protection works in the 1980s, leading to environmental degradation of the beaches and their disappearance. A comparison between the shoreline positions in 1954 and 2006 show that the entire coastline, with the exception of the beach between Cap des Biches and the thermal power station, is eroding with an annual rate of between 0.4 and 1.5 m/year, which is in equilibrium, or even slightly prograding (+ 0.15 m/year). However, the shoreline evolution experienced very significant spatial and temporal variations, especially after the hardening of almost all of the beaches by the seawalls. Studying the long-term evolution of the shoreline (more than 50 years) helped us estimate the impact of these protection works. Beyond the recognized mitigation of the coastline retreat they induced just after being built and the protection they offer residents against the strong rainy season swells, the seawalls have intensified the rate of retreat of the shoreline, especially at the southern end due to the fact that the swells are behind them.

Coastal flooding risk is intensifying under climate change, especially along the low sandy Senegalese coastline. This study explores the spatiotemporal variability of extreme coastal water levels (ECWL) from 1993 to 2023 by combining ERA5 reanalysis (waves, wind, pressure), tide gauge and meteorological data, and applying a generalized Pareto distribution (GPD) to estimate the 99th percentile and return levels for 50 and 100 year events. The analysis of the upper 1% of ECWLs reveals significant spatial heterogeneity: 99th percentile values exceed 1.2 m in the Dakar region (Yoff, Ouakam, Ngor) and around Saint-Louis/Langue de Barbarie, with 95% confidence intervals ranging from approximately 1.15 m to 1.30 m, while Casamance and the Saloum Delta exhibit much lower extremes (0.8–1.0 m). For return periods, ECWLs vary between 1.6 m and 2.3 m, with the 100 year return level (T100) exceeding 2.25 m in Dakar, above 2.0 m in Saint-Louis, and intermediate values (1.5–1.9 m) along the Petite Côte (Mbour–Toubab Dialaw) and in the Saloum Delta. The 50 year return level (T50) follows a similar spatial pattern but is 5–10 cm lower than T100 in the most exposed areas. Sensitivity analysis shows that ECWLs are primarily controlled by astronomical tide along much of the coast, whereas wave runup dominates in the southern estuarine zones (Saloum, Casamance, Mbour). Trend analysis using the Mann–Kendall test reveals a latitudinal gradient: stronger positive slopes in the south, weaker trends in central and northern sections, but all p values lie between 0.1 and 0.4, meaning none of the trends reach conventional significance. These findings point to a potential intensification of extreme water levels in socio-economically critical areas (Dakar, Saint-Louis, Mbour) but should be interpreted with caution given the lack of robust statistical significance. The results provide a quantitative basis for coastal risk management in light of projected sea level rise.