GIS-Based Assessesment of the Romanian Marine and Coastal Areas Hydrodynamical Characteristics as Part of Maritime Spatial Planning

Abstract

"The Romanian coastal zone is strongly impacted by the marine processes, inducing a continuous emergent process nearly the sea-land interface. The sustainable anthropogenic development of the coastal zone is requiring the preservation of the natural landscape, respectively the natural characteristics and processes belonging of its specificity within different regional coastal areas, including marine natural reserves and marine protected areas/MPAs.Thus, the development and preservation of the marine activities within coastal water bodies, as well as coastal buffer areas, with specific measure of coastal protections or erosion control works, had become an activity of foremost interest.In this regard, the new methodologies and tools of the remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems/GIS were applied to support the monitoring of the natural factors within regional coastal and maritime planned areas with intense development within Romanian Exclusive Economic Zone/EEZ. Certain results and positive effects on MSP Directive implementation, based largely on various data, are accessible in the present work, in relation with reduction of the ecological impact of the different socio-economic activities, including coastal and maritime transportation, as well as specifically designation of the coastal and marine locations for the installations of the marine energy convertors. Key-Words: GIS, remote sensing, marine and coastal waves, wave energy, MSP "