Integrated Coastal Resilience and Risk Management Under Climate Change

A special issue of Earth (ISSN 2673-4834).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 1710

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. School of Engineering, University of Lancashire (University of Central Lancashire), Preston, UK
2. United Nations—SPIDER—UK RSO, Preston, UK
Interests: Earth; coastal vulnerability; natural disasters; natural hazards; climate change; water infrastructure; GIS mapping

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Construction, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Atlantic Technological University, F91 YW50 Sligo, Ireland
Interests: watershed modeling; hydrology; urban water management; climate adaptation; AI-driven engineering solution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coastal areas around the world are facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change, rapid urbanization in both official and unofficial zones, rising sea levels, and natural hazards. These issues—such as changing storm patterns, increased intensity of storms, coastal erosion, varying flood risks, and ongoing infrastructure development—threaten the survival and well-being of coastal communities and their infrastructure.

Recent advancements in Earth observations, geospatial tools and analysis, nature-based solutions, and integrated frameworks offer promising opportunities for proactive and scientifically informed efforts to build resilience in these communities.

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge multi- and interdisciplinary research that enhances the understanding and management of various coastal risks in the context of a changing climate. We invite contributions that explore innovative approaches to coastal and climate hazard evaluation, GIS vulnerability mapping, multi-hazard and multi-criteria modeling, adaptive coastal planning, and decision-support systems that integrate physical, ecological, social, and technological dimensions of resilience. We emphasize the importance of multi- and transdisciplinary solutions that connect engineering, science, policy, and practice.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  1. Coastal vulnerability;
  2. Innovative Multi-hazard coastal risk modeling;
  3. Climate change and climate refugees;
  4. Adaptation and resilience;
  5. GIS vulnerability mapping;
  6. Artificial Intelligence in coastal and climate modeling;
  7. Coastal community vulnerability;
  8. Policy frameworks for coastal zone management.

Dr. Komali Kantamaneni
Prof. Dr. Upaka Rathnayake
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Earth is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • coastal vulnerability
  • coastal hazards and risk
  • GIS mapping
  • climate change
  • adaptation and resilience

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 6012 KB  
Article
Climate Oscillations, Aerosol Variability, and Land Use Change: Assessment of Drivers of Flood Risk in Monsoon-Dependent Kerala
by Sowmiya Velmurugan, Brema Jayanarayanan, Srinithisathian Sathian and Komali Kantamaneni
Earth 2026, 7(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/earth7010015 - 25 Jan 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1104
Abstract
Aerosol microphysical and optical properties play a crucial role in cloud microphysics, precipitation physics, and flood formation over areas characterized by complex monsoon regimes. This research presents a multi-source data integration approach to analyzing the spatio-temporal interaction between precipitation, aerosols, and flooding in [...] Read more.
Aerosol microphysical and optical properties play a crucial role in cloud microphysics, precipitation physics, and flood formation over areas characterized by complex monsoon regimes. This research presents a multi-source data integration approach to analyzing the spatio-temporal interaction between precipitation, aerosols, and flooding in the state of Kerala, incorporating an air mass trajectory analysis to examine its potential contribution to flooding. The results show that the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) values were high in the coastal districts (>0.8) in the La Niña year (2021) but low in the El Niño year (2015). On the precipitation side, 2018 and 2021 were both years with a high degree of anomalies, resulting in heavy rainfall that led to widespread flooding in the Thrissur district, among others. The trajectory analysis revealed that the Indian Ocean controls the precipitation during the southwest monsoon and the pre-monsoon. The post-monsoon precipitation is mainly sourced from the Arabian Peninsula and Arabian Sea, transferring marine aerosols along with desert aerosols. The overall study shows that the variability in aerosols and precipitation is more subject to change by the meteorological dynamics, as well as influenced by the regional changes in land use and land cover, causing fluxes in the land–atmosphere interactions. In conclusion, the present study highlights the possible interactive functions of atmospheric dynamics and anthropogenic land use modifications in generating a flood hazard. It provides essential information for land management policies and disaster risk reduction. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop