The coastal erosion of the abandoned Yellow River Delta in northern Jiangsu province, China: Based on analysis of remote sensing images

The abandoned Yellow River Delta in Jiangsu province has suffered coastal erosion since 1855. In this paper, three Landsat TM images and one Landsat ETM+ over the abandoned Yellow River Delta have been taken advantage to analyze the coastal erosion. The modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI) has been used to extract coastline. The results show that coastal area has decreased progressively since 1989. During the period 1989 to 2007, the average erosion rate in northern delta was higher, being 15.10 m/a. From 1989 to 1995, the erosion rate in river mouth was low, being 8.87 m/a, while after 1995 the erosion rate decreased apparently to be 0.33 m/a. The average erosion rate in the southern delta was about 10.78 m/a before 2001, and increased rapidly after 2001. The main factors for coast erosion over the abandoned Yellow River Delta could be correlated with sediment sources and hydrodynamic conditions.