Ready? SET. Go!

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Michaela Compo / NPS Photo

Text Description for Infographic

Pinning down where change is happening.

Scientists all over the world use Surface Elevation Tables (SETs) to measure the movement of wetland surfaces over time.

Wetlands are areas of land, including swamps, marshes, mangroves, etc. that are covered by water, salt, fresh, or somewhere in between, either seasonally or permanently. NCBN uses SETs to monitor salt marshes throughout the Northeast.

To use:

1. A horizontal bar is leveled, and nine pins are lowered through the bar until they touch the salt marsh surface.
2. The height of each pin above the bar is measured during each visit, and repeated year after year. The SET instrument attaches to a benchmark driven deep into the salt marsh sediment.
3. Because the SET is attached to a stable benchmark, changes in pin heights reflect elevation changes in marsh surface.

As sea levels rise, and at a quicker rate due to global climate change, salt marshes need to keep up by trapping sediments in the water and growing vertically. If they can't increase their elevation similar to the pace of rising seas, salt marshes risk being submerged more frequently which can stress the plants, lead to degradation & possible loss of the marsh over time.