It is no longer just Youtubers and the military flying drones around the UK. Scientists are now methodically flying drones along our coasts to predict the coastal erosion of our little island. Oceanographer Mark Wiggins explains; “we are using drone technology to map the shore face beach volumes and track the changes in relation to the dynamics of the sea”. Now what exactly does that mean?

 

Due to the naturally corrosive power of the sea, coastal erosion has been a longstanding problem for most countries. Rising sea levels and sea temperature has caused this problem to escalate at an unprecedented rate over the last ten years. Imagine you’re washing up; the more water in the sink and the warmer that water is, the quicker you’re going to erode the ketchup off of last night’s burger plate. The same principle is true for coastal erosion. 

 

Before the use of drones the only way to get accurate aerial pictures of land and costal erosion was by helicopter or satellite, both of which are very costly and energy inefficient. The introduction of cost effective drones into this field has seen a surge in coastal mapping globally, particularly in Africa where only 2.9% of the continent is mapped at a local scale vs. 87% of Europe. 

 

One place this practice has been particularly progressive is Zanzibar, a series of islands off the east coast of Africa. In October 2017 a research group began the Zanzibar Mapping Initiative dubbed ‘the world's most ambitious mapping project deploying small-scale drones’. The initiative is using drones to map effects of rising sea levels and global temperatures by taking images of the entire island. It has also helped the islands develop urban planning skills, allowing them to build towns in areas sheltered from the increasingly harsh climate. This type of mapping is incredibly important as it’s very hard to ‘spot the difference’ caused by climate change from a satellite image alone. The rest of Africa is expected to follow suit in the next few years.