Floodplain conservation in the Mississippi River Valley: combining spatial analysis, landowner outreach, and market assessment to enhance land protection for the Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, U.S.A.

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan P. Piazza ◽  
Yvonne C. Allen ◽  
Richard Martin ◽  
James F. Bergan ◽  
Katherine King ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Mississippi River Valley ◽  
Land Protection ◽  
Atchafalaya River ◽  
Atchafalaya River Basin

scholarly journals Floodplain biogeochemical processing of floodwaters in the Atchafalaya River Basin during the Mississippi River flood of 2011

2014 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Durelle T. Scott ◽  
Richard F. Keim ◽  
Brandon L. Edwards ◽  
C. Nathan Jones ◽  
Daniel E. Kroes
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Atchafalaya River ◽  
River Flood ◽  
Atchafalaya River Basin

scholarly journals Estimation of sedimentation rates in the distributary basin of the Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya River Basin, USA

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Rosen ◽  
Y. Jun Xu
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Landsat Imagery ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Sedimentation Rates ◽  
Sediment Retention ◽  
Annual Average ◽  
Atchafalaya River ◽  
Atchafalaya River Basin

The Atchafalaya River Basin (ARB) is the largest distributary basin of the Mississippi River composing anastomosing channels, backwater swamps, freshwater marshes, and wetland forests. Sedimentation in the ARB has presented management issues concerning habitat changes from open water areas to bottomland hardwood forests. A thorough understanding of sediment transport and deposition in the basin is not only required for proper management of the ARB, but is crucial for regional sediment budgets that affect the Mississippi River Delta Plain. In this study, we calculated 31 years (1980–2010) of total suspended sediment (TSS) inflow and outflow of the Atchafalaya River to quantify the long-term sediment retention in the basin. We then estimated sedimentation rates in the basin by spatially relating the retention with changes of turbid water area derived from Landsat imagery. The study found an annual average TSS inflow of 54.0 megatonnes (MT) and an annual average TSS outflow of 48.7 MT, resulting in an average annual retention of 5.3 MT. Spatially derived mean sedimentation rates were estimated between 0.06 and 0.153 mm d−1. The spatial estimates for sedimentation proved promising and with more sediment data available could become an invaluable tool for managing the ARB in the future.

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