The Incorporation of the Maps of the Atlas of the Italian Beaches in a GIS System

A. Botta, A. Bozzano, N. Corradi, M. Ferrari

DIPTERIS University of Genoa (IT)

The coastline is one of the most delicate natural environments whose evolution, and sometimes very existence, can be determined by a multitude of factors.
The most serious coastal problem that we face today is, undoubtedly, beach erosion, both as a natural trend, now recognized on a global scale, and as a consequence of anthropic activity on an unprecedented scale. In Italy 60% of the population lives on the coast and the major coastal cities hold 24% of the population.
Coastal research, which began in the 1930s, has led to the production of numerous monographs and charts over the years. The Atlas of the Italian Beaches, the first example of a cartographic report on the state of the coastline in an easy-to-read format for the Mediterranean, is a synthesis of the information obtained in the period up to the 1990s.
The purpose of the Atlas of the Italian Beaches was to provide a summary of our knowledge of the state of conservation of the coastline with particular reference to its morphological-sedimentological conditions and evolutive trend. Parameters that could provide governmental and para-governmental experts and all those who use the coastal zone with a useful instrument for determining the preconditions for the correct use of the area.

The Atlas used the maps of the Istituto Geografico Militare on a scale of 1:100,000 as the cartographic basis for reporting information on human activity (state of occupation of the coastline), natural setting (geomorphological characteristics) and hydrological and sedimentary dynamic (direction and transport of material and textural characteristics of the same).
However, the sheer size of the Atlas, consisting of 108 maps, imposed a limit on the dissemination of information as it was difficult to extract a single datum. Furthermore, the nature of the permitted only a graphic representation, restricting the possibility of working directly on the data.
The cartographic and geological-environmental data contained in the Atlas have now been incorporated in a GIS platform, for interest of The Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio, that makes the information more user-friendly. Furthermore, the new system has been organised in a way that permits the information it contains to be integrated with other types of data.
The incorporation of the Atlas in a GIS system has permitted the selection of a more suitable cartographic support system: the maps of the Istituto Idrografico della Marina on a scale of 1:100,000 that permit the use of IGM tables. This choice was made on the basis of the quality of the data relating to the coastline and the possibility of adding useful information on the morphology of the seabed on the basis of bathymetric curves. The detailed work involved in the transfer of the data from one cartographic system to another and from one support system to another enabled us to resolve a discrepancy between the Geodetic Systems and the georeferenciation of the coastline.
The system produced and the extensions planned with the addition of new data coming from new research projects will provide a versatile tool for tracking information and drafting reports of a national character, permitting a better understanding of the coastal zone and a better and prompter management of environmental emergencies.
The GIS processes relating to the implementation of the cartographic data and the geological-environmental themes on an ESRI Arc View platform will be presented.