亚洲AV

Mason leads the way in a NOAA effort to protect the Maryland coast

February 27, 2020 / By
John Hollis
View of Belmont Bay from the Flood Hazards Research Lab at Mason's Potomac Science Center.
View of Belmont Bay from the Flood Hazards Research Lab at Mason's Potomac Science Center. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services.

亚洲AV is taking the lead in a grant from the (NOAA) designed to assess the threat of rising sea levels and flooding to Maryland鈥檚 coastal communities.

惭补蝉辞苍鈥檚 , an associate professor of water resources engineering within 惭补蝉辞苍鈥檚 , is the lead principal investigator on a team that also includes the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy. The aim of the three-year project is to better inform decision-makers on the best ways to manage and preserve the state鈥檚 more than 7,000 miles of shoreline.

鈥淪ea levels have risen one foot in Maryland over the last 100 years,鈥 Ferreira said. 鈥淎nd those sea levels are continuing to go up, so the state is concerned about coastal conditions in the future. Our job is to provide the best scientific knowledge and engineering strategies available to state policy makers.鈥

The research will focus on coastal risk reduction benefits provided by natural and natural-based features (NNBF) in Maryland鈥檚 Chesapeake and Coastal Bays under current conditions and with projected sea-level rise in the wake of ongoing global climate change. Rising sea levels can change how ecosystems work when combined with inundation from tides and storms, meaning that enhancing coastal resiliency is imperative. Experts anticipate more extreme coastal storms and up to two additional feet of sea-level rise over the next 30 years, with flooding from storm surge and erosion expected to become increasingly more problematic to communities and residents less equipped or prepared for them.

Help could come in the form of marshes and submerged aquatic vegetation that could serve as a buffer that would mitigate the effects of rising sea levels, said Ferreira, whose research team will include a Mason doctoral student and a group of undergraduates.

鈥淢arshes are natural protection against extreme events,鈥 Ferreira said.

Using computer models to extrapolate data, he and his team plan to work with local communities to identify existing sites, quantify how much they aid in the fight against flooding and erosion and best educate state decision-makers as they anticipate coastal management for the future.

鈥淲e need to come up with measures that will best protect the coast,鈥 Ferreira said.