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>> Pubs Warehouse >DS 720EAARL Coastal Topography and Imagery–Western Louisiana, Post-Hurricane Rita, 2005: First SurfaceBy Jamie M. Bonisteel-Cormier, Wayne C. Wright, Alexandra M. Fredericks, Emily S. Klipp, Doug B. Nagle, Asbury H. Sallenger, and John.C. Brock Abstract
These remotely sensed, geographically referenced color-infrared (CIR)       imagery and elevation measurements of lidar-derived first-surface (FS)       topography datasets were produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),       St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida,       and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Wallops       Flight Facility, Virginia.

This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets of a       portion of the Louisiana coastline beachface, acquired post-Hurricane Rita       on September 27-28 and October 2, 2005. The datasets are made available       for use as a management tool to research scientists and natural-resource       managers. An innovative airborne lidar instrument originally developed at       the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Wallops Flight       Facility, and known as the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar       (EAARL), was used during data acquisition. The EAARL system is a       raster-scanning, waveform-resolving, green-wavelength (532-nanometer)       lidar designed to map near-shore bathymetry, topography, and vegetation       structure simultaneously. The EAARL sensor suite includes the       raster-scanning, water-penetrating full-waveform adaptive lidar, a       down-looking red-green-blue (RGB) digital camera, a high-resolution       multispectral color-infrared (CIR) camera, two precision dual-frequency       kinematic carrier-phase GPS receivers, and an integrated miniature digital       inertial measurement unit, which provide for sub-meter georeferencing of       each laser sample. The nominal EAARL platform is a twin-engine Cessna 310       aircraft, but the instrument may be deployed on a range of light aircraft.       A single pilot, a lidar operator, and a data analyst constitute the crew       for most survey operations. This sensor has the potential to make       significant contributions in measuring sub-aerial and submarine coastal       topography within cross-environmental surveys.

Elevation measurements were collected over the survey area using the       EAARL system, and the resulting data were then processed using the       Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a custom-built processing system       developed in a NASA-USGS collaboration. ALPS supports the exploration and       processing of lidar data in an interactive or batch mode. Modules for       presurvey flight-line definition, flight-path plotting, lidar raster and       waveform investigation, and digital camera image playback have been       developed. Processing algorithms have been developed to extract the range       to the first and last significant return within each waveform. ALPS is       used routinely to create maps that represent submerged or sub-aerial       topography. Specialized filtering algorithms have been implemented to       determine the "bare earth" under vegetation from a point cloud of last       return elevations.

For more information about similar projects, please visit the Lidar for Science       and Resource Management Website.

First posted July 19, 2013
- Data         Series 720  (11.7 MB)

For additional information contact:St.       Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science CenterU.S. Geological Survey       600 Fourth Street SouthSt. Petersburg, FL 33701 http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/index.php

Part or all of this report is presented in Portable       Document Format (PDF); the latest version of Adobe Reader or similar       software is required to view it. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of       charge.
Suggested citation:
Bonisteel-Cormier, J.M., Wright, C.W., Fredericks, Xan, Klipp, E.S., Nagle, D.B., Sallenger, A.H., and Brock, J.C., 2013, EAARL coastal topography and imagery–Western Louisiana, post-Hurricane Rita, 2005: first surface: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 720, 1 DVD, http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/720. 
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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological SurveyURL: http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/720/Page Contact Information: GS Pubs Web ContactPage Last Modified: Tuesday, July 23, 2013, 11:24:43 AM