This data set consists of digital data describing wetlands and uplands habitats for the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) area, consisting of Cat, Ship, Horn and Petit Bois Islands for the year 2021. Wetlands were classified using the Federal Geographic Data Committee (2013) wetlands classification scheme to the level of freshwater and tidal salinity modifiers. For this dataset, upland dunes were delineated as areas at or above 1.524 meters (5 feet) as determined in the Lidar data without modification for this classification. With this elevation criteria some delineated upland dune features may be high beach berms. Neighboring habitats bordering these upland dune areas are included in the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) classification system. Examples include, irregularly flooded, E2EM1P which is estuarine, emergent vegetation above tidal level, whereas E2EM1N is tidally influenced and has direct connection to tidal flow. References: Federal Geographic Data Committee. 2013. Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States. FGDC-STD-004-2013. Second Edition. Wetlands Subcommittee, Federal Geographic Data Committee and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC.

This data set consists of digital data describing wetlands and uplands habitats for the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) area, consisting of Cat, Ship, Horn and Petit Bois Islands for the year 2020. Wetlands were classified using the Cowardin, et al., wetlands classification scheme to the level of freshwater and tidal, salinity modifiers. Uplands were classified using a customized classification scheme which can be cross-referenced to Anderson, et. al. For this dataset, upland dunes were delineated as areas at or above 1.524 meters (5 feet) as determined in the Lidar data that was referenced without modification for this classification. With this elevation criteria some delineated upland dune features may be high beach berms. Neighboring habitats bordering these upland dune areas are included in the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) classification system. Examples include,irregularly flooded, E2EM1P which is estuarine, emergent vegetation above tidal level, whereas E2EM1N is tidally influenced and has direct connection to tidal flow.

To document current Mississippi barrier island conditions, imagery was acquired February 28, 2020 using Airborne GPs and field control ground markers. For ground control, markers were established and surveyed in using Real Time Kinematic (RTK) survey equipment. The imagery collected will be processed to produce a mosaic of all 4 islands (Cat, East and West Ship, Horn and Petit Bois) and interpreted to classify wetland marshes. The classified data will not only quantify how much marsh is being affected, but the data will also provide a spatial aspect as to where these degrading marsh fragmentations are occurring. The data will be correlated with other data such as salinity, prescribed burns, flooding frequency and flooding duration data to better understand what events may be causing marsh deterioration.

The analyses of landscape change presented in this dataset use Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) to assess changes in land area through time. All cloud-free dates of imagery from 1984 through early 2016 were used in this analysis. This amounted to a total of 174 dates of imagery which were analyzed. No water level restrictions were used during the image selection process as gages with a period of record sufficient for this analysis are not available nearby. Persistent loss and gain data are presented for 1984-2016.

This product depicts the spatial coverage of seagrass beds from 0.5-m color-infrared orthoimagery for Cat Island and Ship Island, Mississippi from early fall of 2011. Specifically, the map includes presence and absence of seagrass beds within a potential seagrass extent that was based on topobathymetric data. A minimum mapping unit of 4 square meters was used for this mapping effort.

This product depicts the spatial coverage of seagrass beds from 0.5-m color-infrared orthoimagery for Cat Island and Ship Island, Mississippi from early fall of 2014. Specifically, the map includes presence and absence of seagrass beds within a potential seagrass extent that was based on topobathymetric data. A minimum mapping unit of 4 square meters was used for this mapping effort.

The Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) program was developed by Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and is implemented as a component of the System Wide Assessment and Monitoring Program (SWAMP). The program uses both historical data and contemporary data collections to assess and monitor changes in the aerial and subaqueous extent of islands, habitat types, sediment texture and geotechnical properties, environmental processes, and vegetation composition. Examples of BICM datasets include still and video aerial photography for documenting shoreline changes, shoreline positions, habitat mapping, land change analyses, light detection and ranging (lidar) surveys for topographic elevations, single-beam and swath bathymetry, and sediment grab samples. For more information about the BICM program, see Kindinger and others (2013). The U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center provides support to the BICM program through the development of habitat map products using aerial imagery and lidar elevation data and assessing change in habitats over time. These data provide a snapshot of barrier island habitats and can be combined with other past and/or future maps to monitor these valuable natural resources over time. The current effort of this habitat mapping program includes developing habitat maps for 2008 and 2015-2016 for the following BICM regions: 1) West Chenier; 2) East Chenier; 3) Acadiana Bays (only Marsh Island); 4) Early Lafourche Delta; 5) Late Lafourche Delta; 6) Modern Delta (only Chaland Headland and Shell Island); and 7) Chandeleur Islands. Additionally, a habitat change analysis will be conducted comparing reaches mapped in 2008 and 2015-2016. The BICM program has developed two habitat classification schemes which include a detailed 15-class habitat scheme and a general eight-class habitat scheme. The detailed scheme was developed specifically for this habitat mapping effort and builds off the general scheme used in previous BICM habitat mapping efforts (Fearnley and others, 2009). The additional classes developed in the detailed scheme are primarily used to further delineate various dune habitats, separate marsh and mangrove, and distinguish between beach and unvegetated barrier flat habitats. To ensure comparability between this effort and previous BICM map products, we have crosswalked the detailed classes to general habitat classes previously used by Fearnley and others (2009).

The Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) program was developed by Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and is implemented as a component of the System Wide Assessment and Monitoring Program (SWAMP). The program uses both historical data and contemporary data collections to assess and monitor changes in the aerial and subaqueous extent of islands, habitat types, sediment texture and geotechnical properties, environmental processes, and vegetation composition. Examples of BICM datasets include still and video aerial photography for documenting shoreline changes, shoreline positions, habitat mapping, land change analyses, light detection and ranging (lidar) surveys for topographic elevations, single-beam and swath bathymetry, and sediment grab samples. For more information about the BICM program, see Kindinger and others (2013). The U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center provides support to the BICM program through the development of habitat map products using aerial imagery and lidar elevation data and assessing change in habitats over time. These data provide a snapshot of barrier island habitats and can be combined with other past and/or future maps to monitor these valuable natural resources over time. The current effort of this habitat mapping program includes developing habitat maps for 2008 and 2015/2016 for the following BICM regions: 1) West Chenier; 2) East Chenier; 3) Acadiana Bays (only Marsh Island); 4) Early Lafourche Delta; 5) Late Lafourche Delta; 6) Modern Delta (only Chaland Headland and Shell Island); and 7) Chandeleur Islands. The BICM program has developed two habitat classification schemes which include a detailed 15-class habitat scheme and a general eight-class habitat scheme. The detailed scheme was used for this habitat mapping effort and builds off the general scheme used in previous BICM habitat mapping efforts (Fearnley and others, 2009). The additional classes developed in the detailed scheme are primarily used to further delineate various dune habitats, separate marsh and mangrove, and distinguish between beach and unvegetated barrier flat habitats. The habitat change analyses in this product depict and summarize habitat change between 2008 and 2015/2016 per BICM reach. The results from these analyses are summarized in two habitat change products. The first product depicts change in land and water coverage and the second product highlights changes based on inundation zones (for example, water, intertidal-unvegetated, intertidal-vegetated, supratidal, and developed/shoreline protection). This product also includes recommended symbology for these data layers. Please see the Entity and Attribute Information section in this metadata file for the BICM barrier island habitat and change class descriptions and the Processing Steps section for information on methodology for map development.

The Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) program was developed by Louisiana’s Coastal Protection Restoration Authority (CPRA) and is implemented as a component of the System Wide Assessment and Monitoring (SWAMP) program. The program uses both historical data and contemporary data collections to assess and monitor changes in the aerial and subaqueous extent of islands, habitat types, sediment texture and geotechnical properties, environmental processes, and vegetation composition. Examples of BICM datasets include still and video aerial photography for documenting shoreline changes, shoreline positions, habitat mapping, land change analyses, light detection and ranging (lidar) surveys for topographic elevations, single-beam and swath bathymetry, and sediment grab samples. For more information about the BICM program, see Kindinger and others (2013). The U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center provides support to the BICM program through the development of habitat map products using aerial imagery and lidar elevation data and assessing change in habitats over time. These data provide a snapshot of barrier island habitats and can be combined with other past and/or future maps to monitor these valuable natural resources over time. The current effort of this habitat mapping program includes developing habitat maps for 2008 and 2015-2016 for the following BICM regions: 1) West Chenier, 2) East Chenier; 3) Acadiana Bays (only Marsh Island); 4) Early Lafourche Delta; 5) Late Lafourche Delta; 6) Modern Delta (only Chaland Headland and Shell Island); and 7) Chandeleur Islands. Additionally, a habitat change analysis will be conducted for reaches mapped in 2005 by Fearnley et al. (2009) and 2015-2016. The BICM program has developed two habitat classification schemes which include a detailed 15-class habitat scheme and a general eight-class habitat scheme. The detailed scheme was developed specifically for this habitat mapping effort and builds off the general scheme used in previous BICM habitat mapping efforts (Fearnley and others, 2009). The additional classes developed in the detailed scheme are primarily used to further delineate various dune habitats, separate marsh and mangrove, and distinguish between beach and unvegetated barrier flat habitats. To ensure comparability between this effort and previous BICM map products, we have crosswalked the detailed classes to general habitat classes previously used by Fearnley and others (2009).

This product depicts the spatial coverage of seagrass beds from 0.5-m color-infrared orthoimagery for Ship Island, Mississippi from early fall of 2021. Specifically, the map includes presence and absence of seagrass beds within a potential seagrass extent that was based on topobathymetric data. A minimum mapping unit of 4 square meters was used for this mapping effort.