The holistic approach to support coastal zone data collection and management: is the augmented virtuality a real solution?

Lately high attention is dedicated to multidisciplinary approaches to carry out as complete as possible investigations on the coastal system. And that is right, given the variety of factors acting on this environment. However, without a proper integration of datasets collected by different disciplines, the ultimate goal of a multidisciplinary work might not be reached. In that sense, the ongoing paradigm shift to accept the transversal scale (from river catchment to coasts to the offshore) along with the longitudinal scale (the physiographic cell) when it comes to deal with coastal zone research is certainly fitting. The approach here presented constitutes the first attempt to store and combine all the data coming from a specific site into a unique database conceived according to the modern concept of the augmented virtuality. The idea is soon to be tested along a sector of the northern Tuscany coast. Every subaerial and underwater topographic survey carried out with both traditional techniques (RTK-DGPS and single- and multi-beam) and modern autonomous vehicles (UAV and AUV), every sediment sampling and grain-size analysis, every biological counting (on either flora and fauna), every economic assessment of the territory, and even pictures made by whoever goes to the beach, will be processed, validated, and then uploaded in the database. Along with that, wireless sensor networks will be deployed to measure in real time physical parameters such as wind speed and direction, wave height and direction, sediment transport and accumulation toward fixed rods. As the final product provided by this holistic approach, the database should be a powerful tool to help coastal managers and local authorities taking the right decisions, because it would be constantly implemented by incoming new data and easily accessible. The innovation of the augmented virtuality will also draw the attention towards beach erosion and coast submersion, which are issues that need global awareness.