Proceedings of ACRS 2013

Assessing Tidal Flood Inundation on Coastal Agriculture

in Central Java Province, Indonesia
Sri Hartini*1, M. Pramono Hadi2, HA. Sudibyakto2, Aris Poniman1, Fredi Satya Candra
Rosaji3
1

Researcher at Geospatial Information Agency,

Jl. Raya Jakarta - Bogor. Km. 46, Cibinong Bogor
2
Lecturer at the Faculty of Geography, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta
3
Master Students at the Faculty of Geography, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta
*Corresponding authors: shartini2001@ yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Several studies suggests that the coastal area of Central Java has been facing
environmental problem that lead to the increase of coastal inundation (Abidin et al. 2010;
Harwitasari & Ast 2011; Marfai 2011; Marfai et al. 2008; Maulia 2010; Soedarsono & Marfai
2012). This study aims to assess the changes on agricultural land use due to tidal flooding
along the coastline of Kendal at the north coast of Central Java Province, Indonesia. DEM as
the main data for inundation modeling was generated using contour and point height data
from 1 : 25.000 topographic map. The coastal inundation derived by slicing method with
considering a hydrological connected water extent for 150cm water depth scenario.
Uncertainty of flood extent also considered regarding of vertical accuracy from contour and
point height data, means that probability of the inundated area can increase significantly.
Meanwhile, the changes on paddy field area on were assessed based on land use map
derived from topographic map year 2000 and land use map derive from manual interpretation
based on high spatial resolution satellite image obtained in 2010. The result shows that the
some of the paddy field area has been changed to settlement and fish pond. It should be noted
that the changes of paddy to fish pond in follows the pattern of the tidal inundation map. This
result suggests that during ten years period the coastal area in general had been threatened by
an increase in tidal height.
Keywords: coastal inundation, paddy field, Central Java
INTRODUCTION
Coastal area is among the most developed area, including the coastal area in the north
coastal area of Central Java Province, Indonesia. Coastal area of Central Java Province
includes in this research covering the area of Kendal District. In general, the area is mostly
flat, spreads within an elevation of less than 5 m above mean sea level.This deltaic area form
due to high sedimentation transported through Bodri River. The delta is still growing and
resulted in the increase of land area and the development is control by oceanographic
processes. Meanwhile, the pattern of sediment accumulation and distribution at the Bodri
river delta are dominantly controlled by wave energy. Fine sediment texture (sandy loam)
found in the estuary, and become coarser (loamy sand to sand) out of river estuary(Siswanto
2007).

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This deltaic area has been developed mainly for agriculture, settlement, and fish pond.
This coastal area has been facing environmental problem including coastal inundation.
Related to that problem,(Marfai 2011) conducted comprehensive researches on the impact of
coastal inundation on ecological and agriculture including peoples response to the flooding in
this area.
Different with what (Marfai 2011) done, this research specifically concentrate on
assessing the changes on the paddy field. Paddy field is very important for Indonesia since
rice is the staple food for Indonesian people. The coastal or tidal inundation poses risks to the
agriculture area by reducing paddy field area and reducing rice productivity, hence reducing
rice production. The reduction of rice production in the wider scale could weaken national
food security, should that it should be put in concern. Moreover, the area is also alarming to
Sea Level Rise (SLR). Regional SLR mapping shows that the area is potentially affected to
SLR in the rate of approximately 5 mm/year (sea Figure 1). This figure suggested that the area
is likely to experience more severe coastal inundation in the future.
In terms of monitoring land use change, remote sensing and Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) technology have been appreciated as useful tools for mapping and assessing
land use changes over time. Satellite imagery has proved to be the main source of land use or
land cover monitoring for decades. The role is getting more and more central following the
increasing on the improvement on this technology, especially the improvement on its spatial
resolution to less than 1 meter. A review and assessment of the use of satellite imagery for
agriculture damage have been done by (Pantaleoni et al. 2007; Uddin & Shrestha 2011).

Figure 1. The study area and the Regional Mean Sea Level Rise (SLR) Trends from Oct 1992 April
2013, (retrieved from ftp://ftp.aviso.oceanobs.com).

Even though ecological monitoring does not always requires very high spatial
resolution imagery, by having these detailed data, a little change can be recognized and
monitored easily. This is particularly suitable for mapping agriculture land use at the study
area when the parcel size is not quite large. The land uses affected by coastal inundation are
paddy field, fish pond, and settlement. Prolong coastal inundation on paddy field will cause
the damage of the plant. Meanwhile, coastal inundation on settlement will affect to
groundwater. Some farmers then convert the paddy field into fish pond to secure their income.

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However, some inundated lands are still let abandon. This study area is situated in the western
of Semarang, the capital city of Central Java (Figure 1). In regard to the importance of the
agriculture area, this area can is considered as a buffer zone and food supplier for the city.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of the research are:
1. To map tidal inundation in the north coastal of Central Java area.
2. To assess the impact of tidal inundation on agricultural land use.
METHODOLOGY
Assessment of land use change and coastal inundation coverage can be done by
utilizing spatial analysis. Remotely sensed data are widely known a useful source of data to
obtained land use data. Meanwhile, GIS technology provides a useful tool for mapping the
coastal inundation as well as land use change analysis. The use of GIS for coastal inundation
has been done by several researchers, for example (Gesch 2012; Marfai 2011; Marfai 2003).
This research applies the two approaches and covers the processes as reveal in Figure 2.
Geospatial data used for mapping the coastal inundation is topographic map scale 1 :
25.000, produced by the Geospatial Information Agency (BIG) (was the National
Coordination Agency for Survey and Mapping Bakosurtanal), Indonesia in 2001. The
coastal inundation map was created based on Digital Elevation Model (DEM) that generated
by combining the contour line and spot height. The DEM then combined with streams
network to obtain DEM with hydrological enforcement. Interpolation to created the DEM was
handled by Topo to raster from spatial analyst tools in ArcGIS software. Inundation modeling
derived by slicing method as easier and faster techniques using conditional command, means
that elevation under the water depth scenario is flooded. Inundated areas from slicing method
was converted to vector data. Since coastal inundation is water flow from the shoreline move
landward, then un-connected hydrological water is easier to be detected. Water inundation
that have no spatial relationship toward shoreline data is considered as unconnected water and
then removed, it can be done in just few seconds using select by location tools in ArcGIS.
Comparing to the inundation model from iteration process used by (Marfai 2003), this
methods is simpler and the processing is relatively faster.
The inundation model also considered the uncertainty, as a consequence of the vertical
accuracy of the DEM. Referring to (Gesch 2012), elevation accuracy gives the knowledge of
the inherent vertical error needed to account for uncertainty in inundation hazard assessment.
Based on NMAS standard with confidence level of 90%, (LE 90) the 90% of contours should
be accurate to within one-half a contour interval, and 100% should be correct to within one
full contour interval. NSSDA use higher standard with 95% of confidence level. And in this
study we use contour data from 1 : 25.000 topographical map that have contour interval of
12.5m with RMSE in LE 90 4m. It means that probability of inundation can be increased or
decreased from exact elevation of water depth scenario. The maximum water extent derived
by summing elevation from water depth scenario with probability of elevation in confidence
level of 90% (LE 90) or 95% (LE 95). For the example, if we have a DEM with RMSE in LE
90 0.5m, then 1m water depth scenario of inundation model can reach maximum probability
until 1.5m elevation regarded to vertical accuracy of the DEM.

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The land use layer from the topographic map was used as the base for assessing the
changes of the agriculture land use. The land use map interpreted from aerial photographic
image suitable for mapping at the scale of 1:25.000. The recent status of the land use data
derived from high spatial resolution satellite imageries i.e. Worldview 2 and GeoEye with
spatial resolution in sub-meters recorded in 2010. With this high spatial resolution, the land
use map resulted is considered comparable with the land use map from the topographic map.
Visual interpretation using protomorphic and ecological context approaches as
describe in (Danoedoro et al. 2004) were used in the land use or land cover interpretation.
This method is considered as a useful approach to be applied in high spatial resolution data
where detailed objects can be identified and delineate easily from the image.
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RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Coastal tidal inundation is defined as flood in low-lying coastal areas caused by high
tide, including estuaries and deltas, involving inundation of land by brackish or saline water
(Smith & Ward 1998). The inundation model for coastal tidal mapping in this research had
been performed in 150 cm of water depth. The inundation model applies by considering
hydrological connected water extent (Figure 3a). The model then was corrected by removing
the unconnected water inundation. Unconnected water inundation is part of the land with
elevation under the inundation scenarios, but naturally does not reached by tide since there is
no hydrological network connected the tide water to the land. This coastal inundation map
after corrected with unconnected water is the map that is used for analyzing the affected area
(Figure 3b).

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Figure 3. Inundation model of 150 cm water depth scenario (a), Inundation Model after removed unconnected water inundation (b).

The second scenario of the inundation coastal model was developed by considering
the uncertainty factor based on the geospatial data used for generate the DEM which is a
contour map taken from topographic map with contour interval of 12.5 meter. RMSe in LE90
of this contour data is 4m. Consequently, with this uncertainty scenario, the inundation
extent has increased significantly (Figure 4). The inundated area without uncertainty
accounted for 5,551.71 hectares, whilst the inundated area under uncertainty is scenario
accounted for 21,588.45 hectares.

Figure 4. Inundation model with uncertainty of coastal inundation resulted in increasing probability of
the water inundation.

The coastal land use affected by coastal inundation derived by overlaying the
inundation map and the land use maps. The affected land use includes irrigated paddy field,
fish ponds, and settlement (Table 1)

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Table 1. Land use affected coastal inundation with and without uncertainty.
Land Use/LandCover Area Affected (Ha)
Landuse 2000
Without
With
Uncertainty
Uncertainty

No

Landuse Type

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Irrigated paddy field

Rain-fed paddy field
Dry land agriculture
Fish pond
Swamp and swamp forest
Settlement and buildings
Hardwood plantation
Grass, bush and shrub
Sand and bare land
Water bodies

 






 


 



Landuse 2010
Without
With
Uncertainty
Uncertainty





 

 





 


 

 

 
 







 
 






 
 


 
  

  


This section will discuss on the changes on agriculture land use particularly on the
agriculture land use types i.e. irrigated paddy field, rain-fed paddy field and dry land
agriculture. During the ten year period, those land uses have been decreased significantly. On
the other hand, the fish pond has increased, both under the coastal inundated scenarios with
and without uncertainty. This Figure suggests that some of the paddy field changed into fish
pond, and the field work confirm these changes (Figure 5.)

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Figure 5. Paddy field changed to fish pond

CONCLUSION
This research concludes that the coastal inundation in the study area has caused the changes
on the agriculture land use especially the paddy field. The changes of paddy field into fish

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pond do not necessarily reduce the farmers income, and it requires further research.
However, the paddy field reduction is definitely will reduce the rice production.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful for the hard work of Putri Meisarrah, Abdul Jamil, Agus Mulya,
Masduki, Dedi Mukhtar Kusnadi and Jumnan Kuswandana at the BIG office for preparing the
land use by doing manual interpretation on the satellite imageries used in this research.
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