Development of Coastal Vulnerability Index for Mangalore Coast, India

Abstract The paper presents the coastal vulnerability index (CVI) for the estimation of vulnerability of the coastal region of Mangalore coast, India, from Talapady to Surathkal. The CVI is an indication of the relative vulnerability of the various segments of the Mangalore coast to coastal erosion hazards. The following variables are used in the estimation of CVI, which is used to rank the vulnerability of the coastal regions: geomorphology, regional coastal slope, shoreline change rates, and population. The rankings for each variable were combined and an index value calculated for 1′ × 1′ grid cells covering the study area.