Abstract

During the last decades, developments in computer technologies have rapidly increased. Depending on these, geospatial information technologies have also significantly developed, and now they improve our decision making ability about most of our daily life plans and problems. In terms of coastal zone management, geospatial technologies can be useful for the sustainable development of the coastal zones. In this study, short definitions about coastal zone terms such as shore line, shore edge line, coast and coastal stripe were given and then explained the main geospatial technologies and their importance on coastal zone management. In addition to these, specially, this paper focused on, how can be GIS and GPS used for determining the shore edge line on which given coastal area named Kaynarca coast’s in the Sakarya Delta because of occurring shore edge line problems recently in this coastal area of Black Sea. Therefore, it is essential to determine the shore edge line in order to make planning and implementations in the coasts and coastal stripes.

Key words: Spatial technologies geographic information systems and global positioning systems (GIS and GPS), coastal zones management and planning, shore edge line, Sakarya Delta, Kaynarca district.