Coastal systems are sensitive environments where many processes operate at different space-time scales acting nonlinearly. Understanding nearshore processes and the response of coastal systems at all these scales is increasingly important because beaches are the first barrier in front of coastal flooding and, also, because their economic and social relevance in terms of tourism economy and outdoor recreation. Additionally the increased threat of global warming and the resulting rise in sea level may accelerate coastal erosion problems.

Beach Monitoring Facility products consist of real time data on beach images and weather variables, as well as periodic information on waves, sediments and beach morphology.

Beach mon. sites Deployment SIRENA Weather Station ADCP Status
Platja de Palma (Mallorca) March 2011 SIRENA data Weather st. data ADCP data Out of service
Cala Millor (Mallorca) May 2011 SIRENA data Weather st. data ADCP data Working
Son Bou (Menorca) October 2011 SIRENA data Weather st. data ADCP data Working
Muro (Mallorca) September 2022 SIRENA data Weather st. data ADCP data Working

A continuous, large and high-resolution dataset on coastline evolution, nearshore waves and currents, sediments and beach bathymetry is a key issue in order to characterize and manage coastal systems properly. The aim of the Marine and Terrestrial Beach Monitoring Facility is to contribute to this issue by means of the Modular Beach Integral Monitoring System (MOBIMS), which consists of a video-monitoring system, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and a programme of bathymetric and sediment sampling.

Coastal videomonitoring allows the autonomous and sustained collection, analysis and storage of high-resolution digital pictures, that are then used to observe and quantify a wide range of coastal phenomena. MOBIMS at SOCIB incorporates the SIRENA coastal imaging system developed at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB).