Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
The magnitude and frequency of storm events, relative sea-level rise (RSLR), sediment supply, and anthropogenic alterations drive the morphologic evolution of barrier island systems, although the relative importance of any one driver will vary with the spatial and temporal scales considered. To expl...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/18/3779 |
| _version_ | 1827681369778552832 |
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| author | Julie C. Bernier Jennifer L. Miselis Nathaniel G. Plant |
| author_facet | Julie C. Bernier Jennifer L. Miselis Nathaniel G. Plant |
| author_sort | Julie C. Bernier |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The magnitude and frequency of storm events, relative sea-level rise (RSLR), sediment supply, and anthropogenic alterations drive the morphologic evolution of barrier island systems, although the relative importance of any one driver will vary with the spatial and temporal scales considered. To explore the relative contributions of storms and human alterations to sediment supply on decadal changes in barrier landscapes, we applied Otsu’s thresholding method to multiple satellite-derived spectral indices for coastal land-cover classification and analyzed Landsat satellite imagery to quantify changes to the northern Chandeleur Islands barrier system since 1984. This high temporal-resolution dataset shows decadal-scale land-cover oscillations related to storm–recovery cycles, suggesting that shorter and (or) less resolved time series are biased toward storm impacts and may significantly overpredict land-loss rates and the timing of barrier morphologic state changes. We demonstrate that, historically, vegetation extent and persistence were the dominant controls on alongshore-variable landscape response and recovery following storms, and are even more important than human-mediated sediment input. As a result of extensive vegetation losses over the past few decades, however, the northern Chandeleur Islands are transitioning to a new morphologic state in which the landscape is dominated by intertidal environments, indicating reduced resilience to future storms and possibly rapid transitions in morphologic state with increasing rates of RSLR. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:14:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-256bd728a24a46a4b9938877e5dc76bd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:14:09Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-256bd728a24a46a4b9938877e5dc76bd2023-11-22T15:08:14ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-09-011318377910.3390/rs13183779Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, LouisianaJulie C. Bernier0Jennifer L. Miselis1Nathaniel G. Plant2U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USAU.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USAU.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USAThe magnitude and frequency of storm events, relative sea-level rise (RSLR), sediment supply, and anthropogenic alterations drive the morphologic evolution of barrier island systems, although the relative importance of any one driver will vary with the spatial and temporal scales considered. To explore the relative contributions of storms and human alterations to sediment supply on decadal changes in barrier landscapes, we applied Otsu’s thresholding method to multiple satellite-derived spectral indices for coastal land-cover classification and analyzed Landsat satellite imagery to quantify changes to the northern Chandeleur Islands barrier system since 1984. This high temporal-resolution dataset shows decadal-scale land-cover oscillations related to storm–recovery cycles, suggesting that shorter and (or) less resolved time series are biased toward storm impacts and may significantly overpredict land-loss rates and the timing of barrier morphologic state changes. We demonstrate that, historically, vegetation extent and persistence were the dominant controls on alongshore-variable landscape response and recovery following storms, and are even more important than human-mediated sediment input. As a result of extensive vegetation losses over the past few decades, however, the northern Chandeleur Islands are transitioning to a new morphologic state in which the landscape is dominated by intertidal environments, indicating reduced resilience to future storms and possibly rapid transitions in morphologic state with increasing rates of RSLR.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/18/3779Landsatlandscape evolutionbarrier islandland coverspectral indicesOtsu thresholding |
| spellingShingle | Julie C. Bernier Jennifer L. Miselis Nathaniel G. Plant Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana Remote Sensing Landsat landscape evolution barrier island land cover spectral indices Otsu thresholding |
| title | Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana |
| title_full | Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana |
| title_fullStr | Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana |
| title_short | Satellite-Derived Barrier Response and Recovery Following Natural and Anthropogenic Perturbations, Northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana |
| title_sort | satellite derived barrier response and recovery following natural and anthropogenic perturbations northern chandeleur islands louisiana |
| topic | Landsat landscape evolution barrier island land cover spectral indices Otsu thresholding |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/18/3779 |
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