Land Area Changes in Coastal Louisiana After the 2005 Hurricanes: A Series of Three Maps

This report includes three posters with analyses of net land area changes in
coastal Louisiana after the 2005 hurricanes (Katrina and Rita). The first
poster presents a basic analysis of net changes from 2004 to 2005; the second
presents net changes within marsh communities from 2004 to 2005; and the third
presents net changes from 2004 to 2005 within the historical perspective of
change in coastal Louisiana from 1956 to 2004. The purpose of this analysis was
to provide preliminary information on land area changes shortly after
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to serve as a regional baseline for monitoring
wetland recovery following the 2005 hurricane season. Estimation of permanent
losses cannot be made until several growing seasons have passed and the
transitory impacts of the hurricanes are minimized, but this preliminary
analysis indicates an approximate 217-mi2 (562.03-km2) decrease in
land/increase in water across coastal Louisiana.

[Summary provided by the USGS.]