Direct photo-interpretation, which formed our reference dataset, showed noticeable changes in the
coastline deltas of both study areas, with erosion occurring mostly in the earlier periods (1990–2003) in
both river deltas followed by deposition in more recent years (2003–2009), but at different magnitudes.
Spatial patterns of coastline changes predicted from the SVMs showed similar trends. In absolute terms
SVMs predictions of sediment erosion and deposition in the studied area were different in the order of
5–20% in comparison to photo-interpretation, evidencing the potential capability ofthis method in coastline
changes monitoring. One of the main contributions of our work lies to the use of the SVMs classifier
in coastal mapping of changes, since to our knowledge use of this technique has been under-explored in
this application domain. Furthermore, this study provides important contribution to the understanding
of Mediterranean river delta dynamics and their behaviours, and corroborates the usefulness of EO technology
and GIS as an effective tool in policy decision making and successful landscape management. The
latter is of considerable scientific and practical value to the wider community of interested users, given
the continued open access to observations from this satellite radiometer globally