Fuzzy vs. Probabilistic Methods for Risk Assessment of Coastal Areas

Coastal zones are dynamically evolving systems comprising three components, i.e. the marine, the coastal, and the land subsystem. This is a typical division of a coastal zone and the only common feature that two different coastal zones may present. Concerning other features such as landscape morphology, ecological habitats, land uses, residential development and economic activities, etc., coastal zones present a multivariate environment with various characteristics. In general, there may be three different typologies of coastal zones based on morphological criteria. However, the number of coastal zones types is extremely increased when the specific conditions met in each one of these types are taking into consideration. Several types of human settlements and habitats along with various processes of human and natural origin render an environment with many interdependenciesand risks.