Welcome to the Coastal Marsh Project.

The purpose of the Project was to analyze the surface condition of coastal marshes and detect areas that were at risk for rapid loss of land area. Overall coastal marsh health and potential for deterioration were assessed for much of the east coast of the United States. The result of Project operations was the development of a Marsh Surface Condition data set and improved scientific analysis of coastal marshes.

The Coastal Marsh Project operated in the Department of Geography at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1993 to 1998.

The methodology for the Coastal Marsh Project involves the input, reclassification, combination and output of two primary land cover data sets: National Wetlands Inventory vector data and Thematic Mapper images. The result is a vector data set which demonstrates the health of coastal marsh areas, with special emphasis on those areas in danger of rapid deterioration into open water. The particular innovation of the Coastal Marsh Project's methodology is the focus on ponding and tidal creek expansion of marsh areas. These cover types are proven here to have dramatic impact on the degree of health and deterioration.

• Methodology for the processing of data sets
• Thematic Mapper image of the Chesapeake Bay.
• Maps of the Coastal Marsh Project's Marsh Surface Condition Index state study areas.

Coastal Marsh Project output data files are available for download.

A CD-ROM containing all data sets and detailed explanation is available through the Global Land Cover Facility at the University of Maryland.

As an example of some of the information included on the CD-ROM, the following topics are available for a more detailed investigation of the Coastal Marsh Project:

• What are coastal marshes? And why should coastal marshes be protected?
• How can coastal marsh surface conditions be analyzed?
• Where else are coastal marshes discussed on the Internet?

Coastal Marsh Project Principal Investigators and Publications.

Other types of Land Cover Research are also conducted in the Geography Department at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The Coastal Marsh Project is sponsored by the

Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE = Earth Science Enterprise, since 1998)
at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
And the Department of Geography at the University of Maryland, College Park