Salinity_na_frontal: Modeling the effects of large-scale interior headland restoration on tidal hydrodynamics and salinity transport in an open coast, marine-dominant estuary: model input and results

Using version 20.1_19 of the Discontinuous-Galerkin Shallow Water Equations Model (DG-SWEM) (Kubatko and others, 2006), astronomic tides and salinity transport were simulated at Grand Bay, Alabama (AL), under scenarios of interior headland restoration and sea level rise, as described in Passeri and others (2023). The two-dimensional DG-SWEM model can be applied to coastal and estuarine systems to solve for time-dependent hydrodynamic circulation and salinity transport. The DG-SWEM model uses the ADCIRC framework (Luettich and others, 1992) and requires inputs of an unstructured finite element mesh. For this study, the mesh domain has an open ocean boundary in the Gulf of Mexico and has higher spatial resolution elements (20 - 100 meters (m)) along the Mississippi and Alabama coast. The model mesh coordinates (latitude and longitude) and simulated average salinity concentrations are included in this data release. For further information regarding model input generation and visualization of model output, refer to Passeri and others (2023).