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One of the most destructive tropical cyclones ever to strike the U.S., Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Mississippi coast on 29th August 2005. The Mississippi-Alabama (MS-AL) barrier islands were subjected to storm breaching, area reduction, and vegetation loss caused by a number of parameters including salt spray, saltwater flooding, mechanical damage (e.g., ablation of bark from tree trunks), removal of plants and their soil substrate by scouring, burial under sand, and a 10-month, post-storm period of low rainfall. Repeated acquisitions of remotely-sensed data served as an essential tool in quantifying vegetated and total land area before and after the storm, and post-storm ecological community type and topographic elevation. Vegetated land area continued to decline on some islands in the first year following the storm. However, by November 2007, only 2.2 years after the storm, total vegetated land area had recovered to 72, 96, 77, 93, and 82%, and total subaerial land area to 97, 94, 33, 100, and 104%, of pre-Katrina values on Cat, W. Ship, E. Ship, Horn, and Petit Bois islands by natural re-growth and sediment accretion, respectively. Comparing ecological community-type maps that were developed from field and remotely-sensed data with LiDAR-derived digital elevation models determined that year 2010 ecological community type changed distinctively at the decimeter scale as mean surface elevation ranged from 0.1 m to 1.2 m. Storm-related changes in ecological community type included subtidal to supratidal sand flat, low marsh to wet or dry herbland, and woodland to wet herbland/shrubland.
Gregory A. Carter; Ervin G. Otvos; Carlton P. Anderson; William R. Funderburk; Kelly L. Lucas. Catastrophic storm impact and gradual recovery on the Mississippi-Alabama barrier islands, 2005–2010: Changes in vegetated and total land area, and relationships of post-storm ecological communities with surface elevation. Geomorphology 2018, 321, 72 -86.
AMA StyleGregory A. Carter, Ervin G. Otvos, Carlton P. Anderson, William R. Funderburk, Kelly L. Lucas. Catastrophic storm impact and gradual recovery on the Mississippi-Alabama barrier islands, 2005–2010: Changes in vegetated and total land area, and relationships of post-storm ecological communities with surface elevation. Geomorphology. 2018; 321 ():72-86.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGregory A. Carter; Ervin G. Otvos; Carlton P. Anderson; William R. Funderburk; Kelly L. Lucas. 2018. "Catastrophic storm impact and gradual recovery on the Mississippi-Alabama barrier islands, 2005–2010: Changes in vegetated and total land area, and relationships of post-storm ecological communities with surface elevation." Geomorphology 321, no. : 72-86.
Land cover on the Mississippi–Alabama barrier islands was surveyed in 2010–2011 as part of continuing research on island geomorphic and vegetation dynamics following the 2005 impact of Hurricane Katrina. Results of the survey include sub-meter GPS location, a listing of dominant vegetation species and field photographs recorded at 375 sampling locations distributed among Cat, West Ship, East Ship, Horn, Sand, Petit Bois and Dauphin Islands. The survey was conducted in a period of intensive remote sensing data acquisition over the northern Gulf of Mexico by federal, state and commercial organizations in response to the 2010 Macondo Well (Deepwater Horizon) oil spill. The data are useful in providing ground reference information for thematic classification of remotely-sensed imagery, and a record of land cover which may be used in future research.
Gregory A. Carter; Carlton P. Anderson; Kelly L. Lucas; Nathan L. Hopper. Land Cover Data for the Mississippi–Alabama Barrier Islands, 2010–2011. Data 2016, 1, 16 .
AMA StyleGregory A. Carter, Carlton P. Anderson, Kelly L. Lucas, Nathan L. Hopper. Land Cover Data for the Mississippi–Alabama Barrier Islands, 2010–2011. Data. 2016; 1 (3):16.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGregory A. Carter; Carlton P. Anderson; Kelly L. Lucas; Nathan L. Hopper. 2016. "Land Cover Data for the Mississippi–Alabama Barrier Islands, 2010–2011." Data 1, no. 3: 16.
The Mississippi (MS) barrier island chain along the northern Gulf of Mexico coastline is subject to rapid changes in habitat, geomorphology and elevation by natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The purpose of this study was to compare habitat type coverage with respective elevation, geomorphic features and short-term change between the naturally-formed East Ship Island and the man-made Sand Island. Ground surveys, multi-year remotely-sensed data, habitat classifications and digital elevation models were used to quantify short-term habitat and geomorphic change, as well as to examine the relationships between habitat types and micro-elevation. Habitat types and species composition were the same on both islands with the exception of the algal flat existing on the lower elevated spits of East Ship. Both islands displayed common patterns of vegetation succession and ranges of existence in elevation. Additionally, both islands showed similar geomorphic features, such as fore and back dunes and ponds. Storm impacts had the most profound effects on vegetation and geomorphic features throughout the study period. Although vastly different in age, these two islands show remarkable commonalities among the traits investigated. In comparison to East Ship, Sand Island exhibits key characteristics of a natural barrier island in terms of its vegetated habitats, geomorphic features and response to storm impacts, although it was established anthropogenically only decades ago.
Carlton P. Anderson; Gregory A. Carter; William R. Funderburk. The Use of Aerial RGB Imagery and LIDAR in Comparing Ecological Habitats and Geomorphic Features on a Natural versus Man-Made Barrier Island. Remote Sensing 2016, 8, 602 .
AMA StyleCarlton P. Anderson, Gregory A. Carter, William R. Funderburk. The Use of Aerial RGB Imagery and LIDAR in Comparing Ecological Habitats and Geomorphic Features on a Natural versus Man-Made Barrier Island. Remote Sensing. 2016; 8 (7):602.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarlton P. Anderson; Gregory A. Carter; William R. Funderburk. 2016. "The Use of Aerial RGB Imagery and LIDAR in Comparing Ecological Habitats and Geomorphic Features on a Natural versus Man-Made Barrier Island." Remote Sensing 8, no. 7: 602.