Evaluating Quoddy Region Archaeological Site Vulnerability To Sea Level Rise And Erosion Through The Integration Of GIS Modeling And Surveys (Data Files)

Authors

Katelyn DeWater, University of New EnglandFollow
Arthur Anderson, University of New EnglandFollow
Gabriel Hrynick, University of New Brunswick
William Kochtitzky, University of New EnglandFollow

Document Type

Data

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

Modeling coastal archaeological site erosion often depends on regional site databases that record sites accurately but with variable precision or do not define site extent. This case study examines the impact of sea level rise and erosion on 10 coastal archaeological sites in the Quoddy Region of Maine through the comparison of sea level rise models and field observations. Three sea level scenarios were modeled to predict the vulnerability of sites: current sea level, a 0.457 m increase (Low 2050 scenario), and a 0.914 m increase (High 2050 scenario), reflecting levels recommended by the Maine Climate Council for preparation efforts. We project four water levels in our models: mean high water (MHW), mean higher high water (MHHW), highest astronomical tide (HAT), and HAT + storm surge. All tide levels reported below are in the MHW datum, in which MHW equals 0 m. Tide levels used were reported by the Eastport, ME tide gauge (station ID: 8410140; https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/stationhome.html?id=8410140). A high storm surge of 1.112 m occurred on January 10, 2024, which we have added to HAT to project a maximum, current sea level scenario of 2.321 m. For this analysis, we used a digital elevation model (DEM) from the United States Geological Survey (https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/). The DEM was collected in 2011 as part of a larger Northeast data from New York to Maine as a lidar dataset. The DEM has a reported vertical accuracy of 7.1 cm and a horizontal accuracy of 100 cm, with 1 m spatial resolution. With this DEM, we mapped the current, low 2050, and high 2050 sea level scenarios. Using geoprocessing tools in QGIS version 3.22.10, these layers were used to quantify archaeological sites above each sea level scenario:

• ‘Current_MHW’ (2,168 KB) polygon of current MHW (0 m)
• ‘Current_MHHW’ (2,204 KB) polygon of current MHHW (0.145 m)
• ‘Current_HAT’ (2,344 KB) polygon of current HAT (1.209 m)
• ‘Current_HAT_with_StormSurge’ (2,592 KB) polygon of current HAT + Storm Surge (2.321 m)
• ‘L2050_MHW’ (2,252 KB) polygon of Low 2050 MHW (0.475 m)
• ‘L2050_MHHW’ (2,260 KB) polygon of Low 2050 MHHW (0.602 m)
• ‘L2050_HAT’ (2,416 KB) polygon of Low 2050 HAT (1.666 m)
• ‘L2050_HAT_with_StormSurge’ (2,608 KB) polygon of Low 2050 Hat + Storm Surge (2.778 m)
• ‘H2050_MHW’ (2,308 KB) polygon of High 2050 MHW (0.914 m)
• ‘H2050_MHHW’ (2,336 KB) polygon of High 2050 MHHW (1.059 m)
• ‘H2050_HAT’ (2,416 KB) polygon of High 2050 HAT (2.134 m)
• ‘H2050_HAT_with_StormSurge’ (2,363 KB) polygon of High 2050 HAT + Storm Surge (3.235 m)

Comments

Main file is a .zip file of all data; individual data files can be accessed under Additional Files.

All files are geopackages (.gpkg) and can be viewed in any GIS software such as QGIS or ArcGIS. These files were created in QGIS version 3.22.10.

Recommended Citation

DeWater, Katelyn; Anderson, Arthur; Hrynick, Gabriel; and Kochtitzky, William, "Evaluating Quoddy Region Archaeological Site Vulnerability To Sea Level Rise And Erosion Through The Integration Of GIS Modeling And Surveys (Data Files)" (2024). Geographic Information Systems Data Projects. 2.
https://dune.une.edu/gis_data/2