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Accurate and efficient monitoring is critically important for the effective restoration and conservation of threatened tidal wetlands in the Gulf Coast. The high carbon sequestration potential, habitat for important wildlife and fish, and numerous ecosystem services make these tidal wetlands highly valuable both ecologically and economically to Gulf Coast communities. Our study developed a new methodological approach for mapping biophysical health of coastal tidal wetland habitats in terms of green leaf area index (GLAI), canopy level chlorophyll content (CHL), vegetation fraction (VF), and above ground green biomass (GBM). We measured these biophysical characteristics in tidal wetlands of the northern Gulf of Mexico using a combination of ground data collected from field surveys during the growing seasons of 2010 and 2011 and NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250 m and 500 …