Whenever you visit one of our CoastSnap Balears systems, don't hesitate and become a beach scientist!
Use the CoastSnap mobile phone stand to take a photograph of the coastline and share it via the free CoastSnap app (accessing directly with the QR code you'll find on the stand) and/or email. With your photographs, you contribute to generating a database necessary for studying and understanding the behavior of the beaches in various situations, from short-term events (storms) to longer temporal scale processes (erosion and accretion).
The knowledge generated thanks to citizen participation will be of great value in better understanding the physical processes of the beaches, contributing to their improved management.
Become a beach scientist in 4 simple steps:
- Place your mobile phone on the CoastSnap stand, with the camera facing the beach, through the stand's slot.
- Adjust your phone to the left side of the stand.
- Take a standard photo, without zoom or filters.
- Carefully remove your phone and share your photograph.
You can help us study how our coasts change by sending your photographs through the free CoastSnap app (available on Google Play and App Store) or via email.
¿Too much to remember? Don't worry, you can find all the information and step-by-step instructions on the signs next to the CoastSnap stands.
Where to find CoastSnap Balears
We are working on installing CoastSnap Balears systems along the coast of the Balearic Islands.
Currently, you can find two stations at:
- The northern end of S’Amarador beach, in the Mondragó Natural Park (operational since 07/21/2022).
- Es Trenc beach (entrance from Ses Covetes), in the Es Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Maritime-Terrestrial Natural Park (operational since 09/19/2022).
Beach Monitoring
Coastal systems, including beaches, are sensitive environments affected by various processes at different spatial-temporal scales that interact in a non-linear manner. Understanding the complexity of coastal processes and their response at all these scales is increasingly relevant, as beaches are the first barrier against coastal flooding, in addition to being economically and socially significant for tourism and recreational activities. Furthermore, the effect of climate change and the corresponding rise in sea level can accelerate coastal erosion.
By taking a photograph at our CoastSnap stands, you act as our eyes, recording valuable information about our coasts. We can extract the position of the coastline from each registered photograph, which helps us understand the particular response of each beach under different wave conditions. Long-term cycles (erosion/accretion) and those related to the rise in sea level can also be studied.
The better we understand the local response of our beaches, the more information will be available to coastal managers to make the right decisions.
More information about the Beach Monitoring Installation ICTS SOCIB
The CoastSnap Program
CoastSnap was developed by the University of New South Wales, Sydney (Australia). Since its inception in 2017, it has expanded worldwide, today having more than 200 stations in over 20 countries, accumulating more than 40,000 photos from the public.
For more information, visit the de CoastSnap website.
Spanish CoastSnap Network
CoastSnap Balears is part of the Spanish network of the international CoastSnap initiative, developed within the framework of the Centinelas de la Costa project, led by the University of Vigo, with the collaboration of the University of Cádiz, the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), and the ICTS SOCIB, and with the support of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Centinelas de la Costa is a multidisciplinary project that combines science and ICT, information and communication technologies, environmental conservation, and citizen science. Its goal is to encourage societal participation in coastal monitoring processes through observation and dissemination of the scientific results derived from citizen data. Additionally, it aims to raise awareness about the different impacts affecting the coastal space and the need to undertake mitigation actions, and to highlight the role of R&D in society and the economy.
For more information, check the map of CoastSnap bases in Spain and follow the latest news on social media.
