3. SHORELINE

EUROSION shoreline is a hybrid product derived from various data sources: digitisation of topographical maps, SABE, GISCO, World Vector Shoreline. Its representation is seamless which means that it is not disrupted at borders (for example). This screenshot provides an overview of EUROSION shoreline for the whole Europe.


Once corrected with results from layer “Geomorphology and geology”, EUROSION shoreline is expected to provide the best representation at scale
1:100,000 of the European shoreline.
This screenshot depicts an excerpt from EUROSION shoreline for Denmark and surrounding countries.

 

Data description

The EUROSION shoreline is a seamless representation of the limit between land and sea, at the scale of 1:100,000 covering the whole Europe.

Source of data

The construction of the EUROSION shoreline results from a three-step process:

  • a baseline shoreline for the whole European coastline has been compiled using different sources of data: (i) the first version of CORINE Coastal Erosion for EU countries as of 1990 (this version was derived from digitisation of topographical maps), (ii) SABE CoastLine – at scale 1:100,000 - for countries which joined EU after 1990 and Centre East European Countries, (iii) the World Vector Shoreline (WVS) – at scale 1:250,000 – for some specific territories such as Crete and other greek islands, Malta, Cyprus, Baltic States and Romania. GISCO 1:1 Million is used to “connect” EU territories (e.g. Slovenia with Greece, Greece and Black Sea region) and complete ultraperipheral regions.
  • Comparison of the baseline shoreline with declassified LANDSAT satellite images distributed by NASA has made it possible to identify and fill data gaps (especially the delineation of estuaries and missing islands)
  • The baseline shoreline is then being improved locally as part of the process to produce the layer “Geomorphology and geology” (see corresponding section). Improvements are based upon large scale maps (in general 1:50,000).

Geographical
restrictions

No geographical restriction.
Quality EUROSION shoreline has an average accuracy estimated to 50 meters. It means Quick start to EUROSION database 6 that the position of the “real” shoreline lies on average within a radius of 50 meters from EUROSION shoreline representation. This accuracy is estimated by comparing the EUROSION shoreline representation with declassified LANDSAT satellite images distributed by NASA. We strongly recommend that the accuracy of EUROSION shoreline is also assessed using IMAGE 2000 data when available.
Copyright and data access conditions EUROSION shoreline is a hybrid product derived from various copyrighted and copyright-free data sources. Its use is without restriction within the European Commission. However, its use by external users is subject to restrictions which will be clarified before the completion of EUROSION.