Figure 7 . Unvegetated-Vegetated Marsh Ratio ( UVVR ) for Kiawah Island and its environs . Map produced by Alex Braud for the Santee Cooper GIS Laboratory and Lowcountry Hazards Center ( 2021 ).
Current Geomorphological Conditions
Building onto the shoreline changes , the project teams further gathered information about current conditions to inform planning for the future implementation of restoration projects . This included gathering data relevant to suitable conditions for projects provided by SCDNR to SCDHEC-OCRM in the living shorelines regulatory report released in Mid-November of 2019 . Data generated from this study included wave action from boat traffic , creek bank width , creek bank escarpment , and creek bank slope ( see Figure 32 ). The 2017 DEM for Charleston County was used for calculating the geomorphology of the marsh surface .
In addition , mapping products were produced to illustrate the distribution of vegetated communities within the marsh and analyze vegetation density within the marsh . Vegetated communities were mapped by the Lowcountry Hazards Center at the College of Charleston using similar methods to produce land cover maps for NOAA ’ s Coastal Change Analysis Program ( C-CAP ). The resulting land cover raster dataset was produced at a 1-meter resolution and incorporates several land cover types , including shrub-scrub , maritime forest , impervious surface , high marsh , beach , estuarine waters , and low marsh , among others . To analyze the vegetative density of tidal marsh grasses , researchers used the unvegetated-vegetated marsh ratio ( UVVR ) analysis ( Ganju , 2019 ). The resulting dataset reduces the marsh into units using eCognition software which were subsequently assessed for the ratio of exposed sediments to vegetation within the units . Select data from the Coastal Resilience Evaluation and Siting Tool ( CREST ), compiled by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ( NFWF ) with human and wildlife components , were used in conjunction with the collected data to develop a comprehensive dataset for the study .
The products produced and compiled under this project will inform future planning processes to take actionable steps to bolster Kiawah ’ s resilience to natural hazards , ( i . e ., sea-level rise and flooding ) and reverse the unintended consequences of human actions . As a result of the projects , information can also be used to model , or better understand , future impacts caused by sea-level rise , flooding , and introduction of freshwater from pond outfalls .
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NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS MANUAL FOR KIAWAH ISLAND