Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) for rip current identification in Parangtritis Beach

Rip current is being the major cause of the deadly accidents in Parangtritis Beach. This occasion can be prevented by mapping and monitoring the spatial pattern of rip currents at the location which rip currents are located. Rip current location can be identified by remote sensing data or aerial observations, such as Kite Aerial Photography (KAP). This platform is low cost and can be performed in coastal area due to the massive winds there. KAP has been widely used as the platform for mapping, and some of them are implemented in coastal area. This study aims to find out the ability of Kite aerial photography to identify the rip current location in Parangtritis Beach. From several flight tests, the photo mosaic of Parangtritis Beach has been generated after the KAP has flown at the minimum 3 m/s of the wind speed. KAP can be the great potentials in coastal monitoring, especially for rip current monitoring because it is low-cost, low-energy and provides actual information. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2019.