Coastal vulnerability assessment: Through regional to local downscaling of wave characteristics along the Bay of Lalzit (Albania)

Coastal vulnerability is evaluated against inundation risk triggered by wave run-up through the evaluation of vulnerability levels (referred to as VLs) introduced by Bosom and Jiménez (2011). VLs are assessed through different wave climate characterizations, referring to regional (offshore wave climate) or local (nearshore wave climate) scales. The study is set along the Bay of Lalzit, a coastal area near Durrës (Albania). The analysis reveals that the results vary due to uncertainties inherent in the run-up estimation, showing that the computational procedure should be developed by taking into account detailed information about the local wave climate. Different approaches in choosing wave characteristics for run-up estimation significantly affect the estimate of shoreline vulnerability. The analysis also shows the feasibility and challenges of applying VL estimates in contexts characterized by limited data availability through targeted field measurements of the coast geomorphology and an overall understanding of the recent coastal dynamics and related controlling factors..