December 2018 National Wetlands Inventory Mississippi Barrier Islands habitat classification: (Cat Island, Ship Island, Petit Bois Island and Horn Island)

The Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) has developed a Comprehensive Barrier Island Restoration Plan containing options to ensure the integrity of the Mississippi barrier islands through restoration efforts. Any restoration activities implemented must have minimal adverse impacts to critical habitat for various marine, terrestrial and avian resources. Documenting the success of restoration activities in meeting this requirement requires habitat monitoring. In recent communications with MsCIP personnel, the MsCIP lacks a remotely sensed component to its habitat monitoring plan. Additionally, MsCIP personnel have expressed a need for data pertaining to critical habitat utilized by species of interest including piping plovers, red knots, and sea turtles. Remotely sensed habitat analyses provide a cost-effective and accurate means of inventorying current conditions and monitoring change, especially for large areas in which field investigations would prove logistically or fiscally restrictive. Upland range dune and upland barren dune were delineated as areas at or above 1.524 meters (5 feet) as determined in the Lidar datra utilized for this dataset. Neighboring habitats bordering these areas are included in the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) classification system as irregularly flooded (E2EM1P and E2USP).

密西西比海岸改善计划（Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program, MsCIP）制定了综合性屏障岛修复规划，其中包含多项方案，旨在通过修复工作保障密西西比屏障岛的生态完整性。所有落地实施的修复活动，均需将对各类海洋、陆地及鸟类资源关键栖息地的不利影响降至最低水平。要验证修复活动是否达成该要求，需依托栖息地监测工作进行成效记录。
近期与MsCIP工作人员的沟通显示，其现有栖息地监测计划尚未纳入遥感相关组成部分。此外，工作人员还提出需求，需获取受关注物种（包括笛鸻、红腹滨鹬及海龟）所利用的关键栖息地相关数据。
遥感栖息地分析是一种兼具成本效益与精准度的技术手段，可用于清查当前生境状况并监测变化趋势，尤其适用于野外调查受后勤保障或财政预算限制的大片区域。
本数据集所采用的激光雷达（Lidar）数据划定，海拔等于或高于1.524米（5英尺）的区域被界定为高地沙丘带与裸岩高地沙丘。与上述区域毗邻的周边生境，依据国家湿地清单（National Wetlands Inventory, NWI）分类系统，被归类为不规则淹没型生境（E2EM1P及E2USP）。