Coastal erosion and its impacts on the involved communities is a topic of great scientific interest that also reflects the need for modern as well as cost and time-effective methodologies to be integrated into or even to substitute traditional investigation methods. The present study is based on an integrated approach that involves the use of data derived from UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) surveys. The study illustrates the long- to short-term shoreline evolution of the Molise coast (southern Italy) and then focuses on two selected beach stretches (Petacciato and Campomarino beaches), for which annual UAV surveys were performed from 2019 to 2021, to assess their most recent shoreline and morpho-topographical changes and related effects on their coastal vulnerability. UAV data were processed using the Structure from Motion (SfM) image processing tool. Along the beach profiles derived from the produced DEMs, the coastal vulnerability of the selected beach stretches was evaluated by using the Coastal Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) approach. The results obtained highlight some significant worsening of CVA indexes from 2019 to 2021, especially for the Campomarino beach, confirming the importance of the periodic updating of previous data. In conclusion, the easy use of the UAV technology and the good quality of the derived data make it an excellent approach for integration into traditional methodologies for the assessment of short-term shoreline and beach changes as well as for monitoring coastal vulnerability.

Coasts are highly dynamic and geomorphologic complex systems that evolve under the increasing pressure of climate change and anthropogenic activities, having direct or indirect impacts on the coastal environment. Among the major adverse effects, coastal erosion represents one of the most pressing global issues, especially in flat and low-lying coastal areas that appear to be particularly susceptible to beach erosion and related shoreline retreat. This Special Issue collects a set of twelve papers on “Shoreline Dynamics and Beach Erosion”. Of course, this collection of papers does not cover all the broad number of topics concerning the dynamics and spatial-temporal evolution of shorelines and beach systems, but, in our opinion, they contribute to the growing body of knowledge. Coastal systems of variable complexity located in different geographic and climatic contexts are investigated from various points of view by using multi- and interdisciplinary approaches, as well as new experimental ones. The major topics covered concern the morphodynamics and hydrodynamics of coastal systems, the driving factors of coastal erosion, and the use of models/indexes to study coastal vulnerability and the mitigation of human/natural pressures affecting coastal ecosystems.

This study explores the spatiotemporal variability of extreme wave storms around the Canary archipelago, with special focus on the southern coastal flank of Tenerife island, a strategic beach tourism destination of large socioeconomic importance. To this end, experimental and simulated data of winds and waves are used to study the severity, seasonality, and directionality of wave storms with considerable potential to cause significant impact on beaches. Furthermore, tidal experimental records are employed to test the joint occurrence of wave storms and significantly high sea levels. Long-term statistical analysis of extreme wave storms at different locations reveals a complex spatial pattern of wave storminess around the islands and in the southern flank of Tenerife, due to the intricacy of the coastline geometry, the presence of deep channels between islands, the high altitude and complex topography of the islands, and the sheltering effects exerted by each island over the others, depending on the directionality of the incident wave fields. In particular, south of Tenerife, the energy content and directionality of wave storms show substantial spatial variability, while the timing of extreme wave storms throughout the year exhibits a marked seasonal character. A specific extreme storm is examined in detail, as an illustrative case study of severe beach erosion and infrastructure damage.

Fractal properties of deep ocean current speed time series, measured at a single-point mooring on the Madeira Abyssal Plain at 1000- and 3000-m depth, are explored over the range between one week and 5 years, by using the detrended fluctuation analysis and multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis methodologies. The detrended fluctuation analysis reveals the existence of two subranges with different scaling behaviors. Long-range temporal correlations following a power law are found in the time-scale range between approximately 50 days and 5 years, while a Brownian motion–type behavior is observed for shorter time scales. The multifractal analysis approach underlines a multifractal structure whose intensity decreases with depth. The analysis of the shuffled and surrogate versions of the original time series shows that multifractality is mainly due to long-range correlations, although there is a weak nonlinear contribution at 1000-m depth, which is confirmed by the detrended fluctuation analysis of volatility time series.

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