Abstract
Nagapattinam, in the east coast of India, was severely affected during the deadliest Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004. The tsunami caused heavy damage to life and property, and the death toll was about 3,378 in Nagapattinam taluk. Certain villages along the coast witnessed large inundation while adjacent villages were protected from the fury of the tsunami waves. This study was carried out to examine the underlying causes for the vulnerability along Nagapattinam coast with the help of field observations, remote sensing, and geographical information system as tools. Coastal areas with high sand dunes have been protected from tsunami, and areas adjacent to backwaters were inundated. Realtime Kinematic Global Positioning System and high-resolution satellite data were used to map the topographic information and maximum extent of inundation. Thematic maps on land use, land cover, and coastal geomorphology were generated using remote sensing and field data. Using field data as the primary source of information, tsunami hazard maps have been generated for Nagapattinam.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Dr. B.R. Subramanian, Project Director, ICMAM, for their keen interest and encouragement. The authors are thankful to Dr. Manjunath Bhat, Ilayaraja, and Elangovan for their help in data collection and analysis.
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Ramana Murthy, M.V., Reddy, N.T., Pari, Y. et al. Mapping of seawater inundation along Nagapattinam based on field observations. Nat Hazards 60, 161–179 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-011-9950-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-011-9950-1