Coping with variability in the coastal environment

The coastal region shows a high degree of environmental variability as the result of a complex series of interactions between oceanography, meteorology, the shallow ocean floor, the land topography, and man-made influences. A number of these processes are discussed to illustrate the range of spatial and temporal variability and the types of interactions that can occur in the coastal regime. Different measurement and prediction techniques for use in the coastal environment are discussed together with their relative advantages and disadvantages. Recommendations are made for how these different techniques can be more cost-effectively combined for monitoring the coastal environment