Dataset of numerical modelling results of wave thrust on salt marsh boundaries with different seagrass coverages in a shallow back-barrier estuary

Carmine Donatelli; Neil K Ganju; Tarandeep Singh Kalra; Sergio Fagherazzi; Nicoletta Leonardi

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2019.104197

Dataset of numerical modelling results of wave thrust on salt marsh boundaries with different seagrass coverages in a shallow back-barrier estuary

Data Brief. 2019 Jul 6:25:104197. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2019.104197. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Authors

Carmine Donatelli¹, Neil K Ganju², Tarandeep Singh Kalra³, Sergio Fagherazzi⁴, Nicoletta Leonardi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Liverpool, Roxby Building, Chatham St., Liverpool L69 7ZT, UK.
² U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, MA 02543, USA.
³ Integrated Statistics, Contracted to the U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, MA 02543, USA.
⁴ Department of Earth Sciences, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Abstract

This article contains data on the effects of seagrass decline on wave energy along the shoreline of Barnegat Bay (USA) previously evaluated in Donatelli et al., 2019. This study was carried out applying the Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) numerical modelling framework to six historical maps of seagrass distribution. A new routine recently implemented in COAWST was used, which explicitly computes the wave thrust acting on salt marsh boundaries. The numerical modelling results are reported in terms of wind-wave heights for different seagrass coverages, wind speeds and directions. From a comparison with a numerical experiment without submerged aquatic vegetation, we show how the computed wave thrust on marsh boundaries can be reduced by seagrass beds.

Keywords: COAWST; Vegetation; Wave thrust.