2002 EAARL LiDAR Survey of Cape Cod National Seashore
USGS Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies. 2004. 2002 EAARL LiDAR Survey of Cape Cod National Seashore. USGS Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies
Bare-earth and first-return elevation data. Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of Cape Cod National Seashore were produced from remotely sensed, geographically-referenced lidar elevation measurements in cooperation with NASA and NPS. Point data in ASCII text files were interpolated in to create a Digital Elevation Model of each beach surface. Elevation measurements were collected over Cape Cod National Seashore using the NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), a pulsed laser ranging system mounted onboard an aircraft to measure subaerial and submarine coastal topography. The system uses a high frequency laser beam directed at the earth's surface through an opening in the bottom of the aircraft's fuselage. The laser system records the time difference between emission of the laser beam and the reception of the reflected laser signal in the aircraft. The plane travels over the beach at approximately 60 meters per second while surveying from the water line to the landward base of the sand dunes. The Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar, developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in Virginia, measures ground elevation with a vertical resolution of roughly 15 centimeters. A sampling rate of up to 3 kHz results in an extremely dense spatial elevation data set. Over 100 kilometers of coastline can be easily surveyed within a 4-hour mission. This ability to sample large areas rapidly and accurately is especially useful in morphologically dynamic areas such as barrier beaches. Quick assessment of topographic change can be made following storms comparing measurements against baseline data. When subsequent elevation maps for an area are analyzed, they provide a useful tool to make management decisions regarding coastal development that incorporate knowledge of ongoing coastal change.
- Type
- Geospatial Dataset
- Authors
- USGS Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies
- Date of Issue
- 2004-08-24
- Publisher
- USGS Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies
- Units
- CACO , NCBN
- Keywords
- Airborne LiDAR Processing System, Atlantic Coast, bare earth elevation, Cape Cod, Cape Cod National Seashore, Coastal Massachuetts, coastal New England, coastal resource management, derived surface, Digital Elevation Model, elevation change, Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar, laser altimetry, Lidar, Massachusetts, United States East Coast
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Coastal/Oceanographic Features and Processes