Website

http://apalachicolareserve.com/rsrch.php

Region(s)

NW

Summary

This dataset provides an initial inventory of approximate locations (within 500 m accuracy) of Surface Elevation Tables (SETs) that are currently installed in coastal wetland ecosystems (e.g., salt marshes, mangrove forests, bottomland hardwood forests) along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast. All five U.S. gulf coast states are included: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. This inventory is the result of a cooperative effort between individuals at the NOAA Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative and the USGS National Wetlands Research Center, who worked with scientists from other state, federal, academic, and non-profit organizations to compile this information. Due to their position at the land-sea interface, coastal wetlands are highly sensitive to sea-level change. Measurements of coastal wetland surface elevation change [via the surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH) approach] improve our understanding of the ability (or inability) of coastal wetlands to keep pace with sea-level rise (for more information, see: Cahoon et al. 2002a, Cahoon et al. 2002b, Webb et al. 2012, Callaway et al. 2013). Wetland surface and shallow subsurface processes play an important role to determine vertical movement in coastal wetlands, and measurements made via the SET-MH approach can be used help better model these important processes and predict future coastal wetland change. This inventory provides the foundation for the potential development and/or expansion of SET networks and helps identify local gaps in measurements of coastal wetland sediment elevation change in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Parameters

Vertical surface elevation

Notes

NERRs Sentinel Site language is different than the NOAA Sentinel Site, which has a very broad definition and is more conceptual. NOAA uses the NERRS as an operational example. Under the NOAA Sentinel Site program, there are 5 Sentinel Site cooperative and ANERR is part of the northern Gulf of Mexico one (these are an unfunded effort to group sites and leverage resources).

Application

Climate change and marsh elevation modeling

Publications

Available for public dissemination

Start

2012

End

Current

Frequency

Annual

Method

surface elevation tables (SETs)

Discontinuity

Measurements began in Fall 2012 with 6 SETS in the upper river marsh sites and 6 SETS in the East Bay area. January 2013 the other 8 SETS were started.

Data Location

http://gcplcc.databasin.org/datasets/6a71b8fb60224720b903c770b8a93929 (SETs locations) and internal Access database - requires data request

Data Format

DBF, shapefile
Internal Access Database

Habitats

RCP Program not part of SEACAR analysis

SEACAR Citation

Alternative Citation

indicates priority attributes