Mississippi barrier island land area change 1984–2025

These datasets are part of an effort associated with the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program to assess Mississippi Barrier Islands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) restored sections of Cat and Ship Island. Over 142 hectares (350 acres) of sediment were placed on Cat Island during 2017 with the goal of restoring and fortifying the beaches and dunes from westward wave energy. The restoration on Ship Island was more extensive, conducted over a 3-year period (December 2017–2020) through five phases. These datasets relate specifically to Task 3 of this overall effort, the aim of which was to 1) quantify multi-decadal land area change to assess historical baseline rates of change, and 2) compare those to post-construction land area and rates of change. These datasets provide bimonthly median estimates of the 1) unvegetated fraction, 2) vegetated fraction, and 3) water fraction at 30-meter resolution for Cat and Ship Islands from May 1984–May 2025.