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Data Series 765
Coastal       Topography�Northeast Atlantic Coast, Post-Hurricane Sandy,       2012
Project             Description

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Assessment of             Coastal Change Hazards project strives to provide hazard information             to Federal, State, and local government agencies; emergency-response             officials; resource managers; and residents. As part of the National             Assessment project, commercial vendors were contracted by the USGS to conduct airborne lidar topographic surveys             to document beach and dune morphology post-Hurricane Sandy, which             made landfall as an extratropical cyclone on October 29, 2012 near             Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Woolpert, Inc. conducted a lidar survey of Fire             Island, New York on November 5, 2012, while Photo Science, Inc. conducted lidar surveys from Cape             Henlopen, Delaware to Cape Lookout, North Carolina on November 5, 8,             9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 26, 28, and 29, 2012. Initial processing of             point-cloud data and creation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) were performed by the             contractor. USGS             processing included gridding of the three-dimensional lidar data using a             fixed-scale interpolator (Plant and others, 2002), which allows for             variability in resolution-2.5 meters (m)             cross-shore and 10 m alongshore.             Shoreline, dune crest, and dune toe position were extracted from             cross-shore profiles of gridded data at a regular alongshore             interval of 10m. Detailed description of             the methodologies for extracting shorelines and dunes from lidar topography can be             found in Stockdon and others (2012) and references contained             therein. Post-storm coastal morphology is used to document coastal             change resulting from the storm; define vulnerability to erosion             during future storms, given current beach conditions; and assist in             the decision-making for recovery and rebuilding efforts.

For more information about the USGS National Assessment of             Coastal Change Hazards project's research on hurricanes and extreme             storms, please visit the National             Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards Website.

Selected References

Plant, N.G., Holland, K.T., and Puleo, J.A., 2002, Analysis of             the scale of errors in nearshore bathymetric data: Marine Geology,             v. 191, no. 1-2,             p. 71-86.

Stockdon, H.F., Doran, K.S., and Sallenger, A.H., 2009,             Extraction of lidar-based dune-crest elevations for use in examining             the vulnerability of beaches to inundation during hurricanes:             Journal of Coastal Research, v. 25, no. 6, p. 59-65.

Stockdon, H.F., Doran, K.J., Thompson, D.M., Sopkin, K.L., Plant,             N.G., and Sallenger, A.H., 2012, National assessment of             hurricane-induced coastal erosion hazards�Gulf of Mexico: U.S.             Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012�1084, 51 p. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1084/.)

Weber, K.M., List, J.H., and Morgan, K.L.M., 2005, An operational             mean high water datum for determination of shoreline position from             topographic lidar data: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report             2005-1027. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1027/.)

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