I'm trying to understand SLAMM's use and interpretation of erosion rates and have not found a clear explanation in the documentation. It appears to me from the technical documentation that erosion is modeled as "none", "Heavy" or "severe" depending on the fetch. Since we input the erosion rates for marshes, swamps and tidal flats specifically into the model, what does it mean for SLAMM to model severity of erosion? Does that mean it only uses some "portion" of the rate we gave it depending on the situation (e.g.., 100% for severe, 50% for heavy"), or does it change something else?
In simpler terms, my question is, does rising sea level affect the rate of erosion for these habitat types?
Jen
QuoteIn simpler terms, my question is, does rising sea level affect the rate of erosion for these habitat types?
Actually, it does not have a direct effect. SLAMM simply takes observed horizontal erosion rates and applies them to the land. The indirect effect of SLR on erosion is that it may expose a different area of the marsh or beach to erosion.
On another note, if the Bruun rule is turned on then SLR DOES affect the rate of erosion but this pertains to "OCEAN BEACH" only.
Cheers -- J