Development of a beach analysis and management system for Caribbean small islands (St. Kitts and Nevis)

Beach erosion presents a hazard to coastal tourism facilities, which provide the main economic thrust for most Caribbean small islands (CSI). Adhoc approaches to addressing this problem have given way to the integrated costal zone management (ICZM) approach. ICZM emphasizes programs that assist with data collection, analysis of coastal processes, assessment of impacts, and implementation and evaluation of strategies to minimize coastal hazards such as flooding and beach erosion. The UNESCO's Coast and Beach Stability in the Caribbean (COSALC) project has provided most CSI with an opportunity to monitor their beaches and in some islands, collected over 10 years of data. However, current tools do not provide key stakeholders (e.g., coastal planners communities, developers) with the necessary capabilities to assist with implementing ICZM strategies.; This dissertation presents the results of research utilizing geographic information system (GIS) and Internet technologies to develop a prototype beach analysis and management system (BAMS) for CSI. The Southeast Peninsula, St. Kitts, was used as a case study to develop system tools and demonstrate system functionality. The dissertation is presented as a series of three articles, which address various system components. Article I (Chapter 2) presents the development of tools for integrating spatial and non-spatial coastal data, estimating long-term beach erosion/accretion and sand volume changes trends at individual beaches, identifying erosion-sensitive beaches, and mapping beach erosion hazards. Article II (Chapter 3) reviews beach change prediction techniques, and enhances the ICZM tools by incorporating selected techniques into BAMS. These tools are used for predicting episodic beach changes under storm conditions and estimating beach erosion damage probabilities and exposure. Article III (Chapter 4) reviews strategies for addressing beach erosion and the justification for making beach setbacks the main strategy for CSI. It also considers the use of storm induced erosion models to improve existing setback methods used in CSI and expands BAMS capabilities by including tools for calculating and analyzing setbacks. A discussion is also presented on a proposed framework for evaluating setback policies. The dissertation concludes by offering comments regarding the nature of the research contribution, suggestions for BAMS dissemination, and future research recommendations.