Coastal Erosion Index Using AHP Analysis – Telipot Beach Terengganu

Abstract

Coastal erosion is a complex process influenced by natural factors and human activities capable of changing coastlines at an extraordinary rate, thereby the classification of erosion introduced by the National Coastal Erosion Study (NCES) needs to be reviewed to be relevant to current conditions. Thus, this study aims to introduce a community-based erosion index to improve the level of erosion categorization by NCES and then validate the index on beach erosion in Telipot, Terengganu. In particular, each erosion category will be divided into three subcategories: 1) slow, 2) medium, and 3) fast. The index's main variables are gathered from secondary sources, including journals, papers, reports, and books. Based on these main variables, a set of questions was created and distributed to thirty-four respondents who are living along Kuala Nerus's coast, as well as ten coastal experts to categorize the level of beach erosion. The Analytic Hierarchy Method (AHP) was used to analyze the questionnaire data and determine the weight of each important variable. According to the questionnaire responds coastal structure has the greatest influence on beach erosion, with a value of 0.555, followed by human activity, which has weightings of 0.222 as well 0.048, and 0.1750 for wind and waves, respectively. Based on the erosion index calculated using the weights obtained, Telipot's coastal area is classified as Category 1 erosion with moderate erosion speed