Coupling remote sensing imagery and numerical models to quantify the resilience of coastal marshes to climate change

Sergio Fagherazzi,  Boston University,  sergio@bu.edu (Presenter)
Cedric G Fichot,  Boston University,  cgfichot@bu.edu
Mark Friedl,  Boston University,  friedl@bu.edu
Marc Simard,  Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech,  marc.simard@jpl.nasa.gov

Coastal wetlands naturally adapt to the shifting coastline and protect inland landscapes. However, their adaptation capacity is challenged by accelerated sea level rise and storm action, and limited by inland infrastructure. Will Atlantic salt marshes survive climate change to provide a wide range of socio-economic services that includes carbon sequestration, habitat for biodiversity, fisheries and coastline protection? Our goal is to evaluate the vulnerability and resilience of Atlantic coastal marshes to climate change through understanding of coastal hydrological and biological processes. To achieve this goal, we propose to: i) Model the effect of sediment availability and tidal range on sediment accretion, vegetation cover, and salt marsh resilience in bays along the US shoreline; ii) Evaluate the role of marsh elevation, vegetation, and position within the bay and channel network as parameters driving coastal resilience
We are utilizing a suite of remote sensing data to quantify key parameters and processes controlling the vulnerability of salt marshes along the Atlantic coast of the USA. Time-series of Landsat and Sentinel-2 images will be used to determine changes in salt marsh vegetation cover driven by sea level rise. Landsat and Sentinel-2 data will also be used to measure sediment availability in the water column of the bays. Sentinel-1 data will provide maps of salt mash flooding and temporal changes in water level in the vegetated wetlands. These remote sensing data will be used in two ways: 1) to calibrate, test, and validate already existing high-resolution models for salt marsh evolution available in six bays; 2) to develop a comprehensive salt marsh resilience index that can be readily applied to bays where high resolution models are not available.

Poster: Poster_Fagherazzi_1-48_42_35.pdf 

Poster Location ID: 1-48

Presentation Type: Poster

Session: Poster Session 1

Session Date: Tue (May 9) 5:00-7:00 PM

CCE Program: OBB