Abstract

Valuing Ecosystem Services of Coastal Wetlands: Protections from Surge
Track: Atmospheric, Climate and Weather
Authors: Ziyan Chu

Coastal wetlands provide a range of functions in which the protection from hurricane storm surge and waves is becoming more important. We present a new approach to estimating the economic value of protective services from wetlands. We took results from numerical modeling of storm surge and waves to establish the relationship between surge heights and land cover. Detailed parcel-level data on property values are used to calculate the dollar value of avoided flood damages from wetlands.