The former salt marshes of the Herring River Estuary (HRE) in Massachusetts, USA were first diked and drained over a century ago, presenting an ideal case study for long-term, severe anthropogenic change in coastal wetlands. The US National Park Service and US Geological Survey are in the process of restoring these salt marshes through the replacement of Chequessett Neck Road Dike (CNRD) with an adjustable gated structure that will gradually reconnect the HRE to an unrestricted tidal regime. Tidal dynamics through the existing CNRD restriction present unique water velocity and flow rate measurement challenges that can be effectively addressed using Infrared Quantitative Image Velocimetry (IR-QIV), which tracks naturally-occurring thermal patterns on the water surface to measure surface velocities and fluxes. These flux measurements form an important baseline against which restoration targets for water quality, salinity, vegetation community succession, carbon fluxes, and other interacting biogeochemical variables can be evaluated. IR-QIV measurements at other sites could show the degradation of flow infrastructure or help understand hydrologic changes in diked coastal waters undergoing relative sea level rise. 2022 pre-construction field data from the HRE are statistically compared to outputs from 2-D and 3-D hydrodynamic models of the HRE and CNRD structure. Uncertainty and error of remote measurements are discussed in the context of model comparison. A feasibility study has shown that a carbon market would be viable in the HRE, and the potential use of infrared remote sensing for carbon flux quantification and validation in future field campaigns is presented as well.

Primary Presenter: Evan Heberlein, Cornell University (eth47@cornell.edu)

Authors:

Seth Schweitzer, Cornell University  ()

Kevin Befus, University of Arkansas  ()

Michelle Hummel, University of Texas at Arlington  ()

Kasra Naseri, University of Texas at Arlington  ()

Edwin Cowen, Cornell University  ()