This study aimed to inform state land management by conducting a suitability analysis on land in Delaware that may have the potential for future marsh migration under different sea level rise scenarios. This study was conducted through a simplistic elevation-based GIS model that incorporated elevation, the Delaware 2 ft, 4 ft, and 7 ft SLR scenarios, soil, slope, land use/land cover (LULC), and distance to tidal wetlands. The model excluded areas of impervious surface, incompatible LULC, open water, as well as the current extent of tidal wetland areas. This model did not incorporate data on accretion, erosion, or hydrodynamic water flow. The final layer includes five categories: areas receiving a score of zero are existing tidal wetlands or open water for marsh migration, scores between one and three are least suitable for migration, four to six are less suitable, seven to nine are suitable, and ten to twelve are highly suitable.

This study aimed to inform state land management by conducting a suitability analysis on land in Delaware that may have the potential for future marsh migration under different sea level rise scenarios. This study was conducted through a simplistic elevation-based GIS model that incorporated elevation, the Delaware 2 ft, 4 ft, and 7 ft SLR scenarios, soil, slope, land use/land cover (LULC), and distance to tidal wetlands. The model excluded areas of impervious surface, incompatible LULC, open water, as well as the current extent of tidal wetland areas. This model did not incorporate data on accretion, erosion, or hydrodynamic water flow. The final layer includes five categories: areas receiving a score of zero are existing tidal wetlands or open water for marsh migration, scores between one and three are least suitable for migration, four to six are less suitable, seven to nine are suitable, and ten to twelve are highly suitable.