Mississippi Barrier Islands Habitat Classification, National Wetlands Inventory, January 2015: (Cat Island, Ship Island, Horn Island, and Petit Bois Island)

This data set consists of digital data describing wetlands and uplands habitats for the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) area, consisting of Cat, Ship, Horn and Petit Bois Islands for the year 2021. Wetlands were classified using the Cowardin, et al., (1979) wetlands classification scheme to the level of freshwater and tidal salinity modifiers. For this dataset, upland dunes were delineated as areas at or above 1.524 meters (5 feet) as determined in the Lidar data without modification for this classification. With this elevation criteria some delineated upland dune features may be high beach berms. Neighboring habitats bordering these upland dune areas are included in the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) classification system. Examples include, irregularly flooded, E2EM1P which is estuarine, emergent vegetation above tidal level, whereas E2EM1N is tidally influenced and has direct connection to tidal flow.