Geomorphic Classification of Coastal Land Loss between 1932 and 1990 in the Mississippi River Delta Plain, Southeastern Louisiana

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Frequently-anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?
    Title:
    Geomorphic Classification of Coastal Land Loss between 1932 and 1990 in the Mississippi River Delta Plain, Southeastern Louisiana
    Abstract:
    The dramatic loss of Louisiana's coastal wetlands and barrier shorelines is well recognized by government agencies, industries, universities, and the public. Between 1932 and 1990, the deltaic plain of the Mississippi River lost over 680,000 acres of land due to a complex suite of causes. Controversy and debate continues as to the causes of coastal land loss in Louisiana. Estimates of the human contribution of man to the land loss problem ranges between 10 percent and 90 percent (Britsch and Kemp, 1990; Penland et al., 1990, Penland et al., 1992; Turner, 1997). Several government agencies and industries have been targeted as the primary agent of coastal land loss including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the oil and gas industry. The role of natural processes and the multiple causality of the coastal land loss problem often have been overlooked (Boesch et al., 1994). In an effort to further our understanding and knowledge of the coastal land loss problem in Louisiana, the Gas Research Institute (GRI) sponsored a research project through the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) entitled "Natural and Human Causes of Coastal Land Loss in Louisiana" in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The study team consisted of scientists from GRI, ANL, Louisiana State University (LSU), University of New Orleans (UNO), USGS, USACE, and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON).

    This study focused on three major land loss research tasks: 1.) Geologic Processes, 2.) Vegetative processes, and 3.) Spatial Geographical Information System (GIS) Analysis.

    Through these research tasks, the objectives of this study are to quantify and rank the causes of coastal land loss within the Mississippi River delta plain in southeastern Louisiana. This study took advantage of continuing research by the USGS in framework geology and subsidence processes, and the USACE in GIS analysis, framework geology, and subsidence processes (Dunbar et al., 1990, Dunbar et al., 1992, Britsch and Dunbar, 1993; Williams et al., 1993). The geological processes task focused on the Holocene evolution of the Mississippi River delta plain in an effort to identify the regional geological controls on coastal land loss over the last 18,000 years. The vegetative processes task conducted field investigations into the role of salt-water intrusion and soil inundation in plant dieback. The GIS analysis task focused on quantifying the geomorphic forms and processes of coastal land loss using the USACE coastal land loss database. In this report, the results of the GIS geomorphic classification of coastal land loss are presented.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    (UNO), Shea Penland , (LSU), Lynda Wayne , (USACOE), L.D. Britsch , S. Jeffress Williams (USGS), Andrew D. Beall (UNO), and Victoria Caridas Butterworth (Plaquemines Parish Govt.), 20010907, Geomorphic Classification of Coastal Land Loss between 1932 and 1990 in the Mississippi River Delta Plain, Southeastern Louisiana: Open File Report 00-417, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Field Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Williams, S.J., Reid, J.M., Cross, V., and Polloni, C., 2003, Coastal Erosion and Wetland Change: Selected USGS Products: Digital Data Series 79, U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Woods Hole Field Center, Woods Hole, MA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -92.000057
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -88.814160
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 30.498417
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 28.912840

  3. What does it look like?

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Beginning_Date: 1932
    Beginning_Time: 2000
    Currentness_Reference: publication date

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • G-polygon (86002)

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000000. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.000000.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    la_morphology_cewc
    Shapefile Attribute Table (Source: None)

    FID
    Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

    Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

    Shape
    Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

    Coordinates defining the features.

    OBJECTID
    Code to designate geomorphic class (Source: UNO)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:8

    GRIDCODE
    Level 1 description of geomorphic land loss (Source: UNO)

    ValueDefinition
    Level 1 description of geomorphic land loss
    Interior LossDefinition of areas of loss that occur independent of existing water bodies
    LandAreas of no land loss between 1932 and 1990
    Shoreline LossAreas of loss that occur relative to existing water bodies

    CLASS
    Level 2 description of geomorphic land loss (Source: UNO)

    ValueDefinition
    Level 2 description of geomorphic land loss
    Interior ChannelNarrow, linear waterbody
    Interior PondEnclosed or semi-enclosed water body with minor connections to the existing drainage network
    LandAreas of no land loss between 1932 and 1990
    Shoreline BaySemi-enclosed waterbody with direct contact to the Gulf of Mexico
    Shoreline ChannelLinear waterbody that commonly connects other waterbodies
    Shoreline GulfThe outer shelf facing the Gulf of Mexico
    Shoreline LakeEnclosed or semi-enclosed waterbody with no direct contact with the Gulf of Mexico

    MORPHOLOGY
    Area of polygon in square meters (Source: UNO)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:8565479158

    SQ__METER
    Area of polygon in acres (Source: UNO)

    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:211653

    ACRE

    SHAPE_AREA
    Area of feature in internal units squared. (Source: ESRI)

    Positive real numbers that are automatically generated.

    SHAPE_LEN

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Dr. Shea Penland
    Coastal Research Laboratory - University of New Orleans
    Professor, Director, Pontchartrain Institute
    Coastal Research Laboratory
    New Orleans, LA 70148
    USA

    504-280-6325 (voice)
    504-280-7936 (FAX)
    spenland@uno.edu

Why was the data set created?
To release a version of this report that can be utilized in GIS (shapefile).

How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    (process 1 of 1)
    Received the shapefiles from UNO; edited and completed the metadata received from Andrew Beall

    Person who carried out this activity:

    U.S. Geological Survey
    c/o Jamey M. Reid
    IT Specialist (Data Management)
    Woods Hole Field Center
    Woods Hole, MA 025453-1598
    USA

    (508) 457-2204 (voice)
    (508) 457-2310 (FAX)
    jreid@usgs.gov

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

How can someone get a copy of the data set?
Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints: None

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    Dr. Shea Penland
    University of New Orleans
    Professor, Director, Pontchartrain Institute
    Coastal Research Laboratory
    New Orleans, LA 70148
    USA

    (504) 280-6325 (voice)
    (508) 280-7936 (FAX)
    spenland@uno.edu

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

    Downloadable Data

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?
Dates:
Last modified: 26-Jun-2003

Metadata author:
U.S. Geological Survey
c/o Jamey M. Reid
IT Specialist (Data Management)
Woods Hole Field Center
Woods Hole, MA 025453-1598
USA

(508) 457-2204 (voice)
(508) 457-2310 (FAX)
jreid@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

Metadata extensions used:

Generated by mp version 2.7.3 on Thu Jun 26 09:09:56 2003