The United States has an average elevation of roughly 2,500 feet (763m) above sea level, however there is a stark contrast in elevations across the country. Highest states Colorado is the highest state in the United States, with an average elevation of 6,800 feet (2,074m) above sea level. The 10 states with the highest average elevation are all in the western region of the country, as this is, by far, the most mountainous region in the country. The largest mountain ranges in the contiguous western states are the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and Cascade Range, while the Appalachian Mountains is the longest range in the east - however, the highest point in the U.S. is Denali (Mount McKinley), found in Alaska. Lowest states At just 60 feet above sea level, Delaware is the state with the lowest elevation. Delaware is the second smallest state, behind Rhode Island, and is located on the east coast. Larger states with relatively low elevations are found in the southern region of the country - both Florida and Louisiana have an average elevation of just 100 feet (31m) above sea level, and large sections of these states are extremely vulnerable to flooding and rising sea levels, as well as intermittent tropical storms.

This data package is formatted as an ecocomDP (Ecological Community Data Pattern). For more information on ecocomDP see https://github.com/EDIorg/ecocomDP. This Level 1 data package was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-pie/404/4. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context:

 Water column samples are collected along an estuarine salinity gradient as part of our monitoring surveys of the Parker River estuary each spring and late summer (typically high vs low freshwater input). Samples are filtered, and stored frozen for later pigment analyses by HPLC. Pigment data are then analyzed by CHEMTAX, calibrated to a matrix of pigment ratios based on taxonomy and enumeration of selected subsamples by microspcopy. Data are presented in terms of chlorophyll a concentrations partitionaed among the major phytoplankton groups as determined by CHEMTAX. 

For 2003-2006, sampling stations along the Plum Island Sound-Parker River were at fixed geographic locations at specific "Bends" in the river. In 2008, we began sampling the water column in salinity space rather than at specific geographic locations along the river. This sampling approach was adopted in order to follow particular water masses in this macrotidal estuary. In practical terms, it means that sampling locations, or stations, are not static. Therefore, we have mapped the 11 sampling locations (latitude and longitude are logged at each station) from each transect along the mainstem of the estuary, so each station may be placed along the river (to the nearest 0.5km) as well as in salinity space. We have also used the km marker to assign the sampling locations from each survey to one of four bounding boxes : the Sound (Plum Island Sound; EST-PR-SoundBND) which encompasses approximatly the first 9.5 km or the transect, with Okm at the mouth of the sound; the Lower Parker River (EST-PR-LowerParkerBND) , ~9.5 - 14.5 km; the Middle Parker River (EST-PRMiddleParkerBND), ~14.5 - 18.75 km, and the Upper Parker River (EST-PR-UpperParker BND)., ~18.75 to 24.25 km (the Parker R. Dam). The Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER is developing a predictive understanding of the response of a linked watershed-marsh-estuarine system in northeastern Massachusetts to rapid environmental change. Over the last 30 years, surface sea water temperatures in the adjacent Gulf of Maine have risen at 3 times the global average, rates of sea-level rise have accelerated, and precipitation has increased. Coupled with these changes in climate and sea level are substantial changes within the rapidly urbanizing watersheds that influence water, sediment, and nutrient delivery to the marsh and estuary. In PIE IV our focus is on: Dynamics of coastal ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change, sea-level rise, and human impacts. NSF OCE LTER-Plum Island Ecosystems: Dynamics of coastal ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change, sea-level rise, and human impacts.

This map includes shoreline change data for the state of Massachusetts hosted by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management.The active data layer in this map is Massachusetts Shoreline Change Transect (1970-2014) with short-term shoreline change rates. To view long-term rates, open map in Map Viewer to turn on layer.The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management launched the Shoreline Change Project in 1989 to identify erosion-prone areas of the coast. The shoreline position and change rate are used to inform management decisions regarding the erosion of coastal resources. In 2001, a shoreline from 1994 was added to calculate both long- and short-term shoreline change rates along ocean-facing sections of the Massachusetts coast. In 2013, two oceanfront shorelines for Massachusetts were added using 2008-9 color aerial orthoimagery and 2007 topographic lidar datasets obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Service, Coastal Services Center. In 2018 two new mean high water (MHW) shorelines for Massachusetts were extracted from lidar collected between 2010 and 2014 (described below). 2018 addition shoreline 1The North Shore and South Coast uses 2010 lidar data collected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise. The South Shore and Outer Cape uses 2011 lidar data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Program Office. Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard uses 2012 lidar data collected by the USACE (post Sandy)from a 2012 USACE Post Sandy Topographic lidar survey. 2018 addition shoreline 2The North Shore, Boston, South Shore, Cape Cod Bay, Outer Cape, South Cape, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and the South Coast (around Buzzards Bay to the Rhode Island Border) is from 2013-14 lidar data collected by the (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program. This 2018 update of the rate of shoreline change in Massachusetts includes two types of rates. Some of the rates include a proxy-datum bias correction, this is indicated in the filename with “PDB”. The rates that do not account for this correction have “NB” in their file names. The proxy-datum bias is applied because in some areas a proxy shoreline (like a High Water Line shoreline) has a bias when compared to a datum shoreline (like a Mean High Water shoreline). In areas where it exists, this bias should be accounted for when calculating rates using a mix of proxy and datum shorelines. This issue is explained further in Ruggiero and List (2009) and in the process steps of the metadata associated with the rates. This release includes both long-term (~150 years) and short term (~30 years) rates. Files associated with the long-term rates have “LT” in their names, files associated with short-term rates have “ST” in their names.

This is a seamless bare earth digital elevation model (DEM) created from lidar terrain elevation data for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It represents the elevation of the surface with vegetation and structures removed. The spatial resolution of the map is 1 meter. The elevation of each 1-meter square cell was linearly interpolated from classified lidar-derived point data.This version of the DEM stores the elevation values as integers. The native VALUE field represents the elevation above/below sea level in meters. MassGIS added a FEET field to the VAT (value attribute table) to store the elevation in feet as calculated by multiplying VALUE x 3.28084.Dates of lidar data used in this DEM range from 2010-2015. The overlapping lidar projects were adjusted to the same projection and datum and then mosaicked, with the most recent data replacing any older data. Several very small gaps between the project areas were patched with older lidar data where necessary or with models from recent aerial photo acquisitions. See https://www.mass.gov/doc/lidar-project-areas-original/download for an index map.This DEM is referenced to the WGS_1984_Web_Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere spatial reference.See the MassGIS datalayer page to download the data as a file geodatabase raster dataset.View this service in the Massachusetts Elevation Finder.

NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) is building high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) for select U.S. coastal regions. These integrated bathymetric-topographic DEMs are used to support tsunami forecasting and modeling efforts at the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). The DEMs are part of the tsunami forecast system SIFT (Short-term Inundation Forecasting for Tsunamis) currently being developed by PMEL for the NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers, and are used in the MOST (Method of Splitting Tsunami) model developed by PMEL to simulate tsunami generation, propagation, and inundation. Bathymetric, topographic, and shoreline data used in DEM compilation are obtained from various sources, including NGDC, the U.S. National Ocean Service (NOS), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other federal, state, and local government agencies, academic institutions, and private companies. DEMs are referenced to the vertical tidal datum of Mean High Water (MHW) and horizontal datum of World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84). Grid spacings for the DEMs range from 1/3 arc-second (~10 meters) to 3 arc-seconds (~90 meters).The DEM Global Mosaic is an image service providing access to bathymetric/topographic digital elevation models stewarded at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), along with the global GEBCO_2014 grid: http://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/gridded_bathymetry_data. NCEI builds and distributes high-resolution, coastal digital elevation models (DEMs) that integrate ocean bathymetry and land topography to support NOAA's mission to understand and predict changes in Earth's environment, and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation's economic, social, and environmental needs. They can be used for modeling of coastal processes (tsunami inundation, storm surge, sea-level rise, contaminant dispersal, etc.), ecosystems management and habitat research, coastal and marine spatial planning, and hazard mitigation and community preparedness. This service is a general-purpose global, seamless bathymetry/topography mosaic. It combines DEMs from a variety of near sea-level vertical datums, such as mean high water (MHW), mean sea level (MSL), and North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). Elevation values have been rounded to the nearest meter, with DEM cell sizes going down to 1 arc-second. Higher-resolution DEMs, with greater elevation precision, are available in the companion NAVD88: http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e9ba2e7afb7d46cd878b34aa3bfce042 and MHW: http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=3bc7611c1d904a5eaf90ecbec88fa799 mosaics. By default, the DEMs are drawn in order of cell size, with higher-resolution grids displayed on top of lower-resolution grids. If overlapping DEMs have the same resolution, the newer one is shown. Please see NCEI's corresponding DEM Footprints map service: http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=d41f39c8a6684c54b62c8f1ab731d5ad for polygon footprints and more information about the individual DEMs used to create this composite view. In this visualization, the elevations/depths are displayed using this color ramp: http://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/images/dem_color_scale.png.A map service showing the location and coverage of land and seafloor digital elevation models (DEMs) available from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). NCEI builds and distributes high-resolution, coastal digital elevation models (DEMs) that integrate ocean bathymetry and land topography to support NOAA's mission to understand and predict changes in Earth's environment, and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation's economic, social, and environmental needs. They can be used for modeling of coastal processes (tsunami inundation, storm surge, sea-level rise, contaminant dispersal, etc.), ecosystems management and habitat research, coastal and marine spatial planning, and hazard mitigation and community preparedness. Layers available in the map service: Layers 1-4: DEMs by Category (includes various DEMs, both hosted at NCEI, and elsewhere on the web); Layers 6-11: NCEI DEM Projects (DEMs hosted at NCEI, color-coded by project); Layer 12: All NCEI Bathymetry DEMs (All bathymetry or bathy-topo DEMs hosted at NCEI).This is an image service providing access to bathymetric/topographic digital elevation models stewarded at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), with vertical units referenced to mean high water (MHW). NCEI builds and distributes high-resolution, coastal digital elevation models (DEMs) that integrate ocean bathymetry and land topography to support NOAA's mission to understand and predict changes in Earth's environment, and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation's economic, social, and environmental needs. They can be used for modeling of coastal processes (tsunami inundation, storm surge, sea-level rise, contaminant dispersal, etc.), ecosystems management and habitat research, coastal and marine spatial planning, and hazard mitigation and community preparedness. This service provides data from many individual DEMs combined together as a mosaic. By default, the rasters are drawn in order of cell size, with higher-resolution grids displayed on top of lower-resolution grids. If overlapping DEMs have the same resolution, the newer one is shown. Alternatively, a single DEM or group of DEMs can be isolated using a filter/definition query or using the 'Lock Raster 'mosaic method in ArcMap. This is one of three services displaying collections of DEMs that are referenced to common vertical datums: North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88): http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=e9ba2e7afb7d46cd878b34aa3bfce042, Mean High Water (MHW): http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=3bc7611c1d904a5eaf90ecbec88fa799, and Mean Higher High Water: http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=9471f8d4f43e48109de6275522856696. In addition, the DEM Global Mosaic is a general-purpose global, seamless bathymetry/topography mosaic containing all the DEMs together. Two services are available: http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=c876e3c96a8642ab8557646a3b4fa0ff Elevation Values: http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=c876e3c96a8642ab8557646a3b4fa0ff and Color Shaded Relief: http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=feb3c625dc094112bb5281c17679c769. Please see the corresponding DEM Footprints map service: http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=d41f39c8a6684c54b62c8f1ab731d5ad for polygon footprints and more information about the individual DEMs used to create this composite view. This service has several server-side functions available. These can be selected in the ArcGIS Online layer using 'Image Display ', or in ArcMap under 'Processing Templates '. None: The default. Provides elevation/depth values in meters relative to the NAVD88 vertical datum. ColorHillshade: An elevation-tinted hillshade visualization. The depths are displayed using this color ramp: http://gis.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/images/dem_color_scale.png. GrayscaleHillshade: A simple grayscale hillshade visualization. SlopeMapRGB: Slope in degrees, visualized using these colors: http://downloads.esri.com/esri_content_doc/landscape/SlopeMapLegend_V7b.png. SlopeNumericValues: Slope in degrees, returning the actual numeric values. AspectMapRGB: Orientation of the terrain (0-360 degrees), visualized using these colors: http://downloads.esri.com/esri_content_doc/landscape/AspectMapLegendPie_V7b.png. AspectNumericValues: Aspect in degrees, returning the actual numeric values.

Future sea level projections are provided for the Massachusetts coastline at established tide gauge stations with long-term records at Boston Harbor, MA; Nantucket, MA; Woods Hole, MA; and Newport, RI. The projections shown in this map layer are adjusted to each station’s mean sea level and converted to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88).

The analysis for Massachusetts (DeConto and Kopp, 2017) consisted of a probabilistic assessment of future relative sea level rise at each tide gauge location given two future atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration pathways, medium (RCP4.5) and high (RCP8.5), and for two methods of accounting for Antarctic ice sheet contributions to sea level rise: one based on expert elicitation (Kopp, 2014) and one where Antarctic ice sheet projections are driven by new, process-based numerical ice sheet model simulations (DeConto and Pollard, 2016; Kopp, 2017). A multi-year reference time period for relative sea level was used to minimize biases caused by tidal, seasonal, and inter-annual climate variability, following the accepted practice of using a 19-year tidal datum epoch centered on the year 2000 as the ‘zero’ reference for changes in relative sea level rise. To account for the ‘zero’ reference point utilized for the models and to provide elevations on a common geodetic datum, sea level rise model projection values at each tidal station were adjusted to the station’s mean sea level as computed for the 19 year tidal datum epoch of 1999-2017 and converted to NAVD88.

Following the approach in the 2017 National Climate Assessment and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global and Regional Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States, conditional probability distributions for sea level rise projections can be integrated into different scenarios to support planning and decision-making, given uncertainty and future risks. This approach allows for the many different probabilistic projections (i.e., two models each using two greenhouse gas concentration pathways for multiple time series and several probabilities groups) to be filtered into four scenarios. Under this approach, each of the scenarios—Intermediate, Intermediate-High, High, and Extreme—is cross-walked with two or three probabilistic model outputs

On their own, while they are not site-specific projections of mean higher high water levels, these projections provide insight to overall trends in rising sea levels along the Commonwealth coastline, to help coastal municipal officials and workshop participants identify future hazards exacerbated by rising seas.

(For definitions of scenarios and projections shown in this map please reference the section on sea level rise beginning on page 11 of this 2018 report.)

*Please Note that the MA temperature and precipitation projections in this 2018 report have been superseded by those sourced from Cornell University and featured in this map viewer and the Climate Projections Dashboard: Massachusetts Climate and Hydrologic Risk Project (Phase 1) – Stochastic Weather Generator Climate Projections Dataset

These data were created as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's efforts to create an online mapping viewer called the Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer. It depicts potential sea level rise and its associated impacts on the nation's coastal areas. The purpose of the mapping viewer is to provide coastal managers and scientists with a preliminary look at sea level rise (slr) and coastal flooding impacts. The viewer is a screening-level tool that uses nationally consistent data sets and analyses. Data and maps provided can be used at several scales to help gauge trends and prioritize actions for different scenarios. The Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer may be accessed at: http://www.coast.noaa.gov/slr This metadata record describes the Boston Weather Forecast Office (BOX WFO) digital elevation model (DEM), which is a part of a series of DEMs produced for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer described above. The DEMs created for this project were developed using the NOAA National Weather Service's Weather Forecast Office (WFO) boundaries. The DEM includes the best available lidar known to exist at the time of DEM creation that met project specifications for the Boston WFO, which includes the coastal counties of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The DEM was produced from LiDAR datasets acquired by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) under the LiDAR for the Northeast Project along with LiDAR datasets for Dukes County, Nantucket, and the City of Boston. Hydrographic breaklines were delineated from LiDAR intensity imagery generated from the LiDAR datasets. The final DEM is hydro flattened such that water elevations are less than or equal to -0.5 meters. The DEM is referenced vertically to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) with vertical units of meters and horizontally to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). The resolution of the DEM is approximately 5 meters.

This archived Paleoclimatology Study is available from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), under the World Data Service (WDS) for Paleoclimatology. The associated NCEI study type is Paleoceanography. The data include parameters of climate reconstructions|paleoceanography with a geographic location of North Atlantic Ocean. The time period coverage is from 244800000 to 0 in calendar years before present (BP). See metadata information for parameter and study location details. Please cite this study when using the data.

Authorities: M.G.L. c. 91: Public Waterfront Act; 310 CMR 9.00: Waterways Regulations. Jurisdiction: Dredging, placement of structures, change in use of existing structures, placement of fill, and alteration of existing structures in any of the following coastal areas (recognizing that MGL Ch. 91 applies more broadly than to coastal areas): * Flowed tidelands - projects in, on, over, or under tidal areas between the mean high water (MHW) line and the limit of state territorial waters (generally 3 miles from shore). * Filled tidelands outside Designated Port Areas (DPAs) - projects up to the first public way or 250 feet from MHW, whichever extends farther inland. * Filled tidelands inside DPAs - projects between the present and historic MHW (i.e. all filled areas inside DPAs). For moorings, floats, rafts, and other bottom-anchored structures, an annual Section 10A permit may be obtained from the local harbormaster in lieu of a Chapter 91 license. Applicability: Any project proposed in, under, or over flowed or filled tidelands or great ponds requires a Chapter 91 license or permit. A Simplified Chapter 91 Waterways License is available to owners of small residential docks, piers, seawalls, and bulkheads. Water-Dependent Chapter 91 Waterways Licenses cover all new or unauthorized water-dependent use projects that are not eligible for the Simplified License. All new or unauthorized nonwater-dependent uses must obtain a Nonwater-Dependent Chapter 91 Waterways License. The term of a Simplified License is 10 years, all others are 30 years. Work not involving fill or structures, such as dredging, may apply for a Chapter 91 Waterways Permit. The term of a Permit is 5-10 years. Regulatory The Division of Wetlands and Waterways in the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) administers the Chapter 91 Waterways Program. Chapter 91 is the Massachusetts public trust statute and, as such, protects the public's rights to fish, fowl, and navigate below the current or historic high water line, as well as in great ponds and navigable rivers and streams in Massachusetts, the so-called public trust lands. Waterways regulations promote the preservation of tidelands for water-dependent uses that require direct access to the water. In addition, the regulations seek to ensure that areas in jurisdiction are maintained for public use and enjoyment when privately developed. Projects are reviewed to ensure that they: (1) do not unreasonably interfere with navigation, (2) are structurally sound, (3) provide a proper public purpose, (4) do not interfere with public rights or rights of adjacent property owners, (5) will not adversely affect natural resources, and (6) preserve DPAs for maritime industrial use. Review Process: The applicant must provide MassDEP with the proposed project location, type of project, project plans, information about other applicable state permits, a certification that the project does not violate municipal zoning, and notification of the municipal planning board. Projects are subject to a 30-day public comment period advertised in a newspaper of general circulation. Nonwater-dependent projects also require a public hearing. MassDEP licensing decisions are subject to a 21-day appeal period. The Chapter 91 License must be recorded at the Registry of Deeds with the property's chain of title within 60 days of issuance or the license becomes invalid. Forms: CH91 Waterways License, Simplified License, Permits, Amendments at www.mass.gov/dep/water/approvals/wwforms.htm. Fees Application fees range from $50 - $2,500 depending on the application type. Occupation fees are $1 or $2 per square yard per year of the license term, depending on the application type. Tidewater Displacement fee of $2 or $10 per cubic yard depending on application type. Website: www.mass.gov/dep/water/resources/waterway.htm. Contact: MassDEP Waterways Program (617) 292-5696.

The Water Quality Monitoring Station data layer was compiled by staff within the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), Division of Watershed Management (DWM), Watershed Planning Program (WPP) to fulfill Federal Clean Water Act reporting requirements.

The Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) directs states to monitor and report on the condition of their water resources. The Water Quality Monitoring Stations data layer was compiled by MassDEP staff in fulfillment of CWA mandates. The stations data layer represents water quality monitoring locations sampled by WPP staff from 1983 to 2022.

Four types of WPP monitoring stations are detailed below. Each station, stored as a single point in the data layer, represents a location that was sampled on one or more occasions during one or more years by WPP staff or their agents:

Fish Toxics Stations: 1983-2022 (n=446); locations where whole fish were collected for subsequent tissue analysis of one or more contaminants. Coverage may include MassDEP Office of Research & Standards (ORS) Mercury Project sampling locations if also sampled by WPP.Fish Population Stations: 2005-2011 (n=177); locations where fish were collected, identified, measured, and released and where habitat quality conditions have been recorded. Locations for 2012-2022 sampling will be provided in a future update.Benthic Macroinvertebrate Stations: 1983-2022 (n=1290); locations where samples of benthic macroinvertebrates have been collected for subsequent subsampling and taxonomic identification and where habitat quality conditions have been recorded. (“Macroinvertebrate” is defined to include all aquatic members of the Annelida; all aquatic Mollusca; aquatic macro-Crustacea; aquatic Arachnida; and the aquatic life stages of Insecta—the exception being the Collembola, Hemiptera, and adult Coleoptera other than Elmidae).Water Quality Stations: 1994-2022 (n=3111); locations where water quality monitoring has been conducted, including one or more of the following data types: discrete or continuous in-situ probe measurements (e.g., dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, specific conductance); laboratory results for water samples (e.g., bacteria, nutrients, algal toxins, metals, organics); or general site observations. Note: for display purposes, stations are differentiated into two major types: Surface Water (e.g., River/Stream, Lake, Estuarine) or Discharge (e.g., Facility Industrial, Facility Municipal Sewage (POTW), Storm Sewer).

Stations can overlap if they were monitored for more than one survey type.The water quality monitoring stations should be displayed with the MassDEP DWM WPP Watersheds data layer, which is included in this service. Those delineations are based on MassGIS 'Major Basins' layer but modified by WPP to reflect surface drainage areas used for the Massachusetts Integrated Report: Multi-part List of Waters (IR).

Learn more about the WPP water quality monitoring program.See full metadata.Map service also available.

These data were developed by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) to show the current and potential future extent and distribution of Massachusetts’ coastal wetlands in response to sea level rise, as modeled using the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM), version 6.2. The SLAMM model and computer software were developed by Warren Pinnacle Consulting, Inc. It was applied to the Massachusetts coast by CZM and partners, including Woods Hole Group, Marine Biological Laboratory, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.Wetland extent and distribution were modeled for the years 2030, 2050, 2070, and 2100 under multiple scenarios of sea level rise. Scenarios from Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States National Climate Assessment, by Parris et al (2012), were adapted to Massachusetts waters. The sea level rise scenarios for Boston, from lowest to highest, were 0.82 ft, 2.32 ft, 4.54 ft, and 7.10 from 2011 to 2100.

This data set contains ortho-rectified mosaic tiles, created as a product from the NOAA Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IOCM) initiative. The source imagery was acquired from 20170810 - 20170810 with an Applanix Digital Sensor System (DSS). The original images were acquired at a higher resolution to support the final ortho-rectified mosaic.

The impacts of coastal inundation have historically confronted coastal managers dealing with vulnerabilities to existing infrastructure and planning for future infrastructure improvements. Impacts range from chronic encroachment of tides to episodic destruction of infrastructure. Recently, coastal storm events have impacted Provincetown in unexpected ways, bringing flood waters to unforeseen areas of town. To assist in proactive storm preparation, this 3D application highlights possibly vulnerable areas at different total water level scenarios in Provincetown Harbor using the most contemporary and publicly available Lidar data for the area as of 2023. This 3D application aims to focus on vulnerable neighborhoods rather than individual buildings. With that in mind, roof forms have been aggregated where possible resulting in large interconnected building clusters. As explained on the NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service the actual impacts from any coastal flooding event can vary due to a variety of factors including rainfall, wave action and the number of tide cycles there is an onshore flow. For this reason, the visualizations depicted in this application represent worst case scenarios by showing the maximum possible inundation at each water level. Although onshore flow may not extend as far inland as depicted, topography and land elevation would allow water to reach these areas under certain circumstances. During any coastal storm event please refer to the NWS's Coastal Hazard Message for specific information regarding Coastal Flood Watches, Warnings and Advisories. Please note this application utilizes 2021 USGS Lidar for Central Eastern Massachusetts (collected 03/20/21 – 04/24/21). Accurateness of visual representations are dependent on the quality of the classified Lidar LAS files downloaded from NOAA’s Data Access Viewer on 11/14/2023, CCS has not field verified elevations. As stated in the Lidar metadata the ground condition was free of snow and acquisition occurred during low tide windows. For more information on the elevation data used in this application please see: OCM Partners, 2023: 2021 USGS Lidar: Central Eastern Massachusetts, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/69417

This layer represents the annual coastal flood exceedance probability (ACFEP) values derived from the Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model (MC-FRM) for sea level rise and coastal storm simulations for the year 2070.Exceedance probabilities are presented as a range from 0.1% (0.001, otherwise known as the 1000-year return flood level) to 100%, which generally corresponds to the annual high water value (1-year return period, not the average high tide). These data can be used to identify locations, structures, assets, etc., that lie within different risk levels within the area. For example, a building that lies within the 2% ACFEP zone corresponds to that area having a 2% chance of flooding in the scenario year (under the projected storm climatology). In other words, there is a 2% percent chance that this location will get wet in the scenario year.See the Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model (MC-FRM) FAQ and MC-FRM Trainings for more information.

This data package is formatted as an ecocomDP (Ecological Community Data Pattern). For more information on ecocomDP see https://github.com/EDIorg/ecocomDP. This Level 1 data package was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-pie/175/8. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context:

 This data set contains the results of point count surveys of breeding birds in the salt marshes of the Plum Island Estuary. Surveys have been carried out each year in June beginning in 2004 and are ongoing. Currently six circles of 100 m radius are being surveyed. Three of the circles are in plots that had been regularly hayed and three in unhayed plots. Currently only one of the plots is regularly hayed.

85 species recorded as of 2020. Most frequently encountered are Agelaius phoeniceus, Ammospiza caudacuta, Tringa semipalmata. The Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER is developing a predictive understanding of the response of a linked watershed-marsh-estuarine system in northeastern Massachusetts to rapid environmental change. Over the last 30 years, surface sea water temperatures in the adjacent Gulf of Maine have risen at 3 times the global average, rates of sea-level rise have accelerated, and precipitation has increased. Coupled with these changes in climate and sea level are substantial changes within the rapidly urbanizing watersheds that influence water, sediment, and nutrient delivery to the marsh and estuary. In PIE IV our focus is on: Dynamics of coastal ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change, sea-level rise, and human impacts. NSF OCE LTER-Plum Island Ecosystems: Dynamics of coastal ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change, sea-level rise, and human impacts.

These data were developed by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) to show the current and potential future extent and distribution of Massachusetts’ coastal wetlands in response to sea level rise, as modeled using the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM), version 6.2. The SLAMM model and computer software were developed by Warren Pinnacle Consulting, Inc. It was applied to the Massachusetts coast by CZM and partners, including Woods Hole Group, Marine Biological Laboratory, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.Wetland extent and distribution were modeled for the years 2030, 2050, 2070, and 2100 under multiple scenarios of sea level rise. Scenarios from Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States National Climate Assessment, by Parris et al (2012), were adapted to Massachusetts waters. The sea level rise scenarios for Boston, from lowest to highest, are 0.82 ft, 2.32 ft, 4.54 ft, and 7.10 ft from 2011 to 2100.

This data package is formatted as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A, event core). For more information on Darwin Core see https://www.tdwg.org/standards/dwc/. This Level 2 data package was derived from the Level 1 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/edi/336/2, which was derived from the Level 0 data package found here: https://pasta.lternet.edu/package/metadata/eml/knb-lter-pie/175/8. The abstract below was extracted from the Level 0 data package and is included for context: This data set contains the results of point count surveys of breeding birds in the salt marshes of the Plum Island Estuary. Surveys have been carried out each year in June beginning in 2004 and are ongoing. Currently six circles of 100 m radius are being surveyed. Three of the circles are in plots that had been regularly hayed and three in unhayed plots. Currently only one of the plots is regularly hayed. 85 species recorded as of 2020. Most frequently encountered are Agelaius phoeniceus, Ammospiza caudacuta, Tringa semipalmata. The Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER is developing a predictive understanding of the response of a linked watershed-marsh-estuarine system in northeastern Massachusetts to rapid environmental change. Over the last 30 years, surface sea water temperatures in the adjacent Gulf of Maine have risen at 3 times the global average, rates of sea-level rise have accelerated, and precipitation has increased. Coupled with these changes in climate and sea level are substantial changes within the rapidly urbanizing watersheds that influence water, sediment, and nutrient delivery to the marsh and estuary. In PIE IV our focus is on: Dynamics of coastal ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change, sea-level rise, and human impacts. NSF OCE LTER-Plum Island Ecosystems: Dynamics of coastal ecosystems in a region of rapid climate change, sea-level rise, and human impacts.