Abstract:
The Volta River's mouth, found near the eastern coast of Ghana is an ecosystem with a unique morphology of sand spits and islands. These morphological features of the eastern location near River Volta facilitate easier access to fisheries, fishing, tourism, raw materials, and transportation which significantly enhanced the economics of coastal areas, leading to increased population growth and infrastructural development. The morphological features such as sand spits and islands formed at the river mouth have been very dynamic in the last few decades. These morphological changes and the related coastal hazards surrounding the mouth of river Volta have been linked to both human activity and natural processes. These coastal hazards have expedited the loss of important wetland ecosystems, erosion, and flooding. These have made the eastern coast the most vulnerable coastal zone in Ghana.
It is also possible to better manage the Volta River system by knowing the dominant causes of those changes and how coastal and delta processes interact. Several studies conducted on the eastern coast have different objectives and approaches rather than assessing the morphological changes at the mouth of the River Volta. To accomplish this goal, data spans from publicly available historical satellites (Landsat 5, 7, 8, 9, and Sentinel 2) Coastsat toolkit software was used to assess the morphological changes at the mouth of the river Volta. In this study,
The findings indicated that the eastern coast of Ghana is highly eroding than accreting which has resulted from changes in sand spits and sand of the Volta River. In addition, it was discovered that the dominant causes among the driving forces of the changes in the case of the Volta River are linked to river discharge and wave current.
There is an urgent need for recommendations to stakeholders for sustainability and mitigation strategies including environmental planners, coastal engineers, government representatives, and planners of coastal hazards, who provide the necessary policies and measures to counteract the impacts of coastal hazards in the coastal community.
