Quantitative and Consistent Coastline Length Calculation Method Based on Fractal Theory

초록

Currently, more than half of the world's population lives on the coastal areas, and there is a continuing population concentration trend. Therefore, a marine spatial planning system is being actively built to integrate and manage the marine space around the world and for such a plan, the coastal line data is used as an important basic data. However, coastline data can be calculated differently depending on the method of extraction or criteria according to geographical characteristics, even in the same area. These inconsistent results can lead to various problems, such as the establishment of sea border, as well as the national plan. Therefore, there is a need for standards and methods that can produce consistent results in coastline data calculation. In this study, generalization was performed with different vertex intervals using open GIS software, and changes in coastline length (vector data) were observed according to the interval differences. As a result, it is found that there is a large difference in the length of the coastline calculated in the same area according to the vertex interval in the coastlines. The use of inconsistent vertex interval in coastline extraction is considered to be responsible for the inconsistent and unreliable coastline length. This study suggests a new method that is based on fractal theory and uses PostGIS for calculating the coastline dimension. The method supports a quantitative and consistent coastline calculation by using vertex interval criterion considering regional and coastline characteristics. This research contents are expected to contribute to efficient land management and national and foreign policy establishment and progress.