Remote sensing of intertidal morphological change in Morecambe Bay , 3 U . K . , between 1991 and 2007

15 16 Tidal Flats are important examples of extensive areas of natural environment that remain 17 relatively unaffected by man. Monitoring of tidal flats is required for a variety of 18 purposes. Remote sensing has become an established technique for the measurement of 19 topography over tidal flats. A further requirement is to measure topographic changes in 20 order to measure sediment budgets. To date there have been few attempts to make 21 quantitative estimates of morphological change over tidal flat areas. This paper illustrates 22 the use of remote sensing to measure quantitative and qualitative changes in the tidal flats 23 of Morecambe Bay during the relatively long period 1991 – 2007. An understanding of 24 the patterns of sediment transport within the Bay is of considerable interest for coastal 25 management and defence purposes. Tidal asymmetry is considered to be the dominant 26 cause of morphological change in the Bay, with the higher currents associated with the 27 flood tide being the main agency moulding the channel system. Quantitative changes 28 were measured by comparing a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the intertidal zone 29 formed using the waterline technique applied to satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) 30