Trinidad & Tobago Climate: Using Earth Observations to Monitor Sea Level Rise and Identify Vulnerable Areas for Restoration Strategy in Trinidad & Tobago

This study, in partnership with the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), investigated the use of Earth observations to analyze shoreline change and to estimate relative sea level rise (SLR) in Trinidad and Tobago. The IMA has relied on outdated shoreline data from 2014, which has become increasingly unreliable for current decision-making and future planning. This project utilized Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI data to assess the efficacy of optical imagery for shoreline delineation to illustrate relative shoreline change. Additional commercial imagery from PlanetScope Dove was used for finer resolution analyses of partner-selected case study areas of Caroni Swamp (Trinidad), Mayaro (Trinidad), and Pigeon Point (Tobago). The project team then explored changes in relative sea surface levels, as a key factor affecting overall shoreline change, using tidal gauge data to project sea level change to 2050 and satellite altimetry data to capture relative regional and seasonal anomalies in sea surface height. Tidal gauge data was compiled and analyzed using linear regression models. A digital elevation model (DEM) derived from a LiDAR scan was used to project potential flood impacts to low-lying areas imposed by potential future sea level rise. Hence, a replicable and accessible methodology was designed to support the IMA in their development of environmental and community resilience strategies. The end products include an overlay map of delineated shorelines produced by public and commercial satellites, visualizing the movement of shoreline in 2015, 2020, and 2024, along with an estimate of SLR within Trinidad and Tobago for the year 2050.