An Analysis of the Coastal Evolution of the South Coast of County Wexford and the Impact of Wind

An assessment of coastal change along the south coast of County Wexford in conjunction with the GSI using orthophoto sets from 3 different years spanning between 2014 and 2019 (2014, 2016, and 2019) using the ArcGIS add-in tool DSAS to calculate the changes. The study area was the coastline between Carnsore Point and Hook Head.

The key findings of the study were that between 2014 and 2019, just under 59% of the coastline was eroding and the average rate of erosion of these areas was 46 cm per year. 

Wind speed and direction data for County Wexford provided by the GSI was used to observe the correlation between wind speed, mean height of waves (SWH) and coastal erosion. There was a strong correlation between wind speed and mean wave height in both periods 2014-2016 and 2016-2019. Average wind speed and mean wave height were both lower during 2014-2016 than during 2016-2019. The average rate of erosion between 2016-2019 was higher than during 2014-2016 which points to a connection between wind and coastal erosion as average wind speed and wave height were higher during the 2016-2019 period. Irish wind data available on the Met Éireann (Ireland's National Meteorological Service) website was also used to highlight the stilling phenomenon of wind observable in Ireland during the last century.