Aerial View Maps

Chandeleur Islands were engulfed by flooding from Hurricane Rita

Summary: The graceful curve of the Chandeleur Islands resembles a multi boned spine connecting the Mississippi Gulf coast to the delta of the Mississippi River in Louisiana Like all barrier islands the Chandeleur Islands form a thin protective wall between the open sea and the mainland in this case Louisiana s St Bernard Parish The islands absorb the strongest waves sheltering the mainland during large storms It is no surprise then that barrier islands along the U S Gulf Coast changed dramatically in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and no change is as dramatic as that seen in the Chandeleur Islands Rita Engulfs the Chandeleur Islands Hurricane Katrina s strong winds storm surge and battering waves scoured the islands leaving them reduced or gone altogether These images of the islands were taken by the Landsat 5 satellite The top image taken on September 16 2005 shows the Mississippi and Alabama coast line including the line of islands that bore the brunt of Katrina s fury The lower images show the northern section of the Chandeleur Islands at full resolution In the 11 months that passed between October 15 2004 when the right image was taken and September 16 2005 when the left image was taken the islands have wasted away These ASTER images are shown in false color Vegetation is red and water is dark blue The large images extend from Beaumont in the north to the Gulf of Mexico Further flooding is evident near the Gulf in the large images Credit NASA images courtesy Jesse Allen Earth Observatory using data obtained courtesy of the NASA GSFC METI ERSDAC JAROS and U S Japan ASTER Science Team Barrier islands like the Chandeleur Islands are constantly building eroding and shifting under the normal erosive and accretion actions of wind and waves A powerful storm like Katrina can render change that otherwise may have taken many years and most of the change seen here is probably a result of Katrina Hurricane Dennis also gave the islands a glancing blow on July 10 2005 and may be responsible for some of the change The other barrier islands shown in the top image were also scoured by Katrina The large images show that the Ship Islands are now significantly smaller than they were in 2004 and Dauphin Island has been cut in two To read more about Katrina s impact on the Gulf Coast please visit the United States Geological Survey s Hurricane Katrina Impact Studies page To learn how NASA technology is contributing to our understanding of coastal erosion see LIDAR In the Wake of the Storm on the Earth Observatory Credit NASA image created by Jesse Allen Earth Observatory using data provided courtesy of Laura Rocchio NASA Landsat Project Science Office Earlier Images and Information

Image Dimensions: 516 x 684