Introduction

The influence that cold front passages have on Louisiana coastal environments, including land loss and land building processes, has been a primary topic of a collaborative effort between CIMSS atmospheric scientists at the University of Wisconsin and CSI coastal scientists at Louisiana State University. Remote sensing and in situ data sets have been analyzed:

AVHRR on NOAA POES
Multispectral Atmospheric Mapping Sensor (MAMS) on NASA ER-2 (1988 - 1992)
MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) on NASA ER-2 (1994 - present)
GOES-8 Imager data
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) water level and river discharge data
Water quality data from the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) at LSU
National Weather Service (NWS) and CSI wind in situ measurements
Geomorphic measurements from aerial photography (NASA ER-2 and Learjet)
CSI ground based sediment burial pipes (for monitoring topographic change along the Louisiana coast)
CSI sediment cores

Cold fronts impact coastal regions through their associated wind, temperature, and pressure patterns, causing redistribution of suspended sediment (SSC), water level fluctuation, wave action, and by affecting water temperatures and moisture content of fresh shoreline sediment deposits. These responses are interwoven into the fragile coastal environment and must be incorporated into coastal management of competing interests (fisheries industry, petroleum industry, ecosystem and habitat survival, recreational interests, etc.). This work seeks to correlate sediment response (suspended, resuspended, deposited on landform) to cold front forcing patterns both on a single event and seasonal basis.

We wish to acknowledge the support of the Solid Earth Sciences Branch and the former Office of Space Science and Applications at NASA HQ for their support of this work.

This web site contains Louisiana coast imagery and data depicting suspended sediment distribution, coastal circulation and sediment transport, sea surface temperature, and landform change (from aerial photography). The Geomorphic Impact Index, a developmental coastal landform index relating atmospheric forcing to landform change, is explained. These data are helping to reveal the interaction of coastal response to atmospheric forcing.. A list of relevant publications is also included. Check the Links page for related sites.

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NOTICE: The photographs, images, text, graphs, and other information on these web pages are proprietary information belonging to The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. If the information is of use to you, please give proper credit to CIMSS. Thanks!

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Last updated: May 12, 1998