Monitoring the Evolution of the West African Coastline under Pronounced Climate Change: Challenges and Solutions for Coastal Protection

¹ University of Nouakchott, Mauritania
² Tohoku University, Japan
³ ECAM-EPMI, France

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

West African coastlines are increasingly exposed to the combined effects of climate change and human interventions, resulting in accelerated shoreline erosion, sediment imbalance, and heightened risks for coastal cities and infrastructures. This study investigates the recent evolution of the Senegalese–Mauritanian coastline, extending over approximately 300 km between the ports of Tanit and N’Diago, with a particular focus on the impacts of coastal engineering structures. An integrated methodology combining field measurements, multi-temporal satellite imagery (2005– 2023), UAV surveys, and sediment grain-size analysis is applied to identify erosion and accretion patterns and assess sediment transport dynamics. Observations reveal significant shoreline retreat and accretion induced by port jetties and breakwaters, highlighting strong disruptions of longshore sediment transport. To complement these observations, simplified numerical modelling approaches based on one-line shoreline models and finite difference methods are implemented to simulate shoreline evolution under various scenarios. The results demonstrate the relevance of these models for predicting long-term coastal behavior in data-scarce environments. This work provides practical insights for integrated coastal zone management and supports the development of adaptive coastal protection strategies for vulnerable West African coastlines..