MATERIALS AND METHODS DESCRIPTION OF WORK The Louisiana map layers for this project from the ESRI Tiger/Line 2000 web site at These consisted of the layer for all the counties (parishes) for the state of Louisiana. Through extracting the ee.file Arc GIs Allowed me to make the boundaries of Louisiana a selectable and editable layer. The primary data source of this project is the Louisiana’s Coast Web site at I extracted the information pertaining to the Louisiana’s Coast and inserted the information into excel documents. Instead of transforming the data into a database file for Arc GIS can recongnize it and possibly join it to the Louisiana shapefile layer, I edit the information in the attribute table that was presently in the Louisiana layer. As in tutorial 5, the excel program 2007 version doesn’t work with the GIS application as well as the version of the excel program. Consequently, the GIS tutorial book was published during the time of the older version of excel, and don’t included tips about compatibility with excel Actually, I attempted this process but couldn’t transform the excel book to a database file. The process wasn’t even an option as in excel Using the excel function properties I calculated the total land loss and water gained and saved that new inclusive information into separate excel document. To insert the information into the tables in the map, I added another field, and using the editing process available in Arc GIS I manually added the necessary information in two different mapping documents. I also provided a buffer along the coast of Louisiana. This process was achieved by first digiting and sketching a polyline that fit the coast line and using the analyzing tools to add the buffer. INTRODUCTION / BACKGROUND n wake of Hurricane Katrina, devastation was eminent. As on the new and television the people, business and industries were greatly affected by this catastrophe; however, no one is mentioning the effects of the hurricane on Louisiana’s coastal land. It is true that the people and businesses are returning to Southeastern Louisiana, but some effects experienced by the coastline are irreversible and permanent. In addition to the major impact during the considerably short time period of the storm, Louisiana was already on pace of losing its wetlands. Tracking the loss of land will help prevent future loss of Louisiana’s coastline. A database can be used as such a tracking device. Area NameLand Loss Madison18 Calcasieu28 Acadia136 Jefferson18 Vermillion8 St. Bernard19 St. Mary9 Plaquemines41 Terrebone19 Results/Conclusions This report has analyzed the damage done on Louisiana’s gulf coast by Hurricane Katrina. In the hyperlinks of the mapping documents areas such as Chandeleurs islands, part of Saint Bernard parish, were completely decimated by some of the storm surges. One notable problem in recognizing the correct areas for the coastal depletion was the name of some of the areas. For example, Calcasieu, an area of land loss after Katrina, is a name of a parish in Louisiana but it is far from Louisiana’s southeastern coast. When I reviewed the photos on the Louisiana Coast website, I couldn’t find any pictorial data on Calcasieu parish. It wasn’t until looking at the Plaquemines coast closer that I discovered that the name Calcasieu, used in the data I collected was the actual name of a basin along the gulf coast. Calcasieu along with other basins that form Plaquemines parish coast line was the most affected by Katrina. I looked at some of the storm tracking documents and discovered that area was directly in the pathway of Katrina; thus, suffering the most damage. REFERENCES [1] Lo & Yeung, Albert. Concepts and Techniques of Geographic Information Systems. 2 nd edition. New Jersey: Person Prentice Hall, [2] Coast Erosion: Facts andhttp:// Figures. August 28, [3] Coastal GIS Annual Progress Report. David Hart. August 28, [4] htpp:// Engineers Build Land with Dredged Sediment Marsh Creation as a Coastal Restoration Strategy. February 1, 2008.htpp:// Figure 2 is a satellite imagery map of the chandeleur islands from LAgov.s website. It explicitly illustrates the difference (before and after) that Katrina produced. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research project is funded by College of Science and Technology STAR Program, supported by Teaching Enhancement Grant by Faculty Excellence Center and Student Technology Fee Small Grant S Land Loss Water Gained Calcasieu/Sabine 2822 Mermentau Teche/Vermilion 85 Atchafalaya 99 Terrebonne 1919 Barataria 1818 Mississipppi River Delta 1818 Breton Sound 4141 Pontchartrain 1919 Pearl River 44 Differences in Land/Water After Hurricane Katrina Percentage of Land 2004 Percentage of Land 2005 Difference Calcasieu/Sabine68.58%65.54%3.04% Mermentau72.75%61.03%11.72% Teche/Vermilion47.24%46.46%0.78% Atchafalaya51.03%48.96%2.07% Terrebonne54.31%53.51%0.80% Barataria55.33%54.40%0.93% Mississipppi River Delta 20.95%18.10%2.86% Breton Sound30.76%26.43%4.33% Pontchartrain26.30%25.74%0.56% Pearl River71.62%66.21%5.41%