The Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) and Applications project at EROS offers information used for a range of applications analysis needed for climate change analysis.
High-resolution coastal elevation data is required to identify flood, hurricane, and sea-level rise inundation hazard zones and other earth science applications, such as the development of sediment transport and storm surge models. Light detection and ranging (lidar) enables the rapid collection of very accurate elevation data over large areas, and during the last decade, airborne laser altimetry has been widely applied to map coastal geomorphology, leading to improved knowledge of coastal geomorphic processes. In addition, high-resolution elevation data from lidar has applications to coastal hazard prediction and mitigation, forest and wetland ecology, and benthic habitat structure and ecosystem function.
During the coming decades, coastlines will respond to widely predicted sea-level rise. Vulnerability maps that depict regions prone to flooding and sea-level rise are essential to planners and managers responsible for mitigating the associated risks and costs to both human communities and ecosystems. InSAR, subaerial lidar, terrestrial lidar, GPS point measurements, topobathymetric lidar, bathymetric lidar, and sonar are key sources of topographic and bathymetric data used to develop detailed, onshore-offshore, cross-ecosystem information on coastal elevation. By progressively constructing enhanced topobathymetric databases for an evolving set of U.S. coastal regions/ecosystems, the USGS Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project is extending and improving the USGS National Elevation Dataset within coastal regions to enable the widespread creation of flood, hurricane, and sea-level rise inundation hazard maps.
The USGS Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project provides important information for a range of applications needed for climate change analysis in sensitive coastal regions, including:
- Flood hazard mapping and inundation
- Sea-level rise
- Sediment transport
- Storm surge
- Coastal redevelopment planning
- Restoration, redevelopment, and protection
- Cliff metric development and analysis
- Coastal geomorphology analysis
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Introduction: Special issue on advances in topobathymetric mapping, models, and applications
One-meter topobathymetric digital elevation model for Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, 1944 to 2016
Depth calibration and validation of the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar, EAARL-B
Topobathymetric elevation model development using a new methodology: Coastal National Elevation Database
Hydrologic connectivity: Quantitative assessments of hydrologic-enforced drainage structures in an elevation model
Modeling and simulation of storm surge on Staten Island to understand inundation mitigation strategies
Lidar-based mapping of flood control levees in south Louisiana
Evaluation of airborne lidar elevation surfaces for propagation of coastal inundation: the importance of hydrologic connectivity
Development of the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) for predicting the impact of storms on high-energy, active-margin coasts
Levee crest elevation profiles derived from airborne lidar-based high resolution digital elevation models in south Louisiana
Topobathymetric model of Mobile Bay, Alabama
Emerging methods for the study of coastal ecosystem landscape structure and change
Land loss due to recent hurricanes in coastal Louisiana, U.S.A.
CoNED Project Viewer
The Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) Project Viewer is a portal to the topobathymetric models created with the expertise of the expertise of the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, SD.
- Overview
The Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) and Applications project at EROS offers information used for a range of applications analysis needed for climate change analysis.
Topobathymetric elevation model of the northern Gulf of Mexico, created with the assistance of the Coastal National Elevation Database Applications (CoNED) Project at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, SD.(Credit: Dean Tyler , U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain.) High-resolution coastal elevation data is required to identify flood, hurricane, and sea-level rise inundation hazard zones and other earth science applications, such as the development of sediment transport and storm surge models. Light detection and ranging (lidar) enables the rapid collection of very accurate elevation data over large areas, and during the last decade, airborne laser altimetry has been widely applied to map coastal geomorphology, leading to improved knowledge of coastal geomorphic processes. In addition, high-resolution elevation data from lidar has applications to coastal hazard prediction and mitigation, forest and wetland ecology, and benthic habitat structure and ecosystem function.
During the coming decades, coastlines will respond to widely predicted sea-level rise. Vulnerability maps that depict regions prone to flooding and sea-level rise are essential to planners and managers responsible for mitigating the associated risks and costs to both human communities and ecosystems. InSAR, subaerial lidar, terrestrial lidar, GPS point measurements, topobathymetric lidar, bathymetric lidar, and sonar are key sources of topographic and bathymetric data used to develop detailed, onshore-offshore, cross-ecosystem information on coastal elevation. By progressively constructing enhanced topobathymetric databases for an evolving set of U.S. coastal regions/ecosystems, the USGS Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project is extending and improving the USGS National Elevation Dataset within coastal regions to enable the widespread creation of flood, hurricane, and sea-level rise inundation hazard maps.
The USGS Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project provides important information for a range of applications needed for climate change analysis in sensitive coastal regions, including:
- Flood hazard mapping and inundation
- Sea-level rise
- Sediment transport
- Storm surge
- Coastal redevelopment planning
- Restoration, redevelopment, and protection
- Cliff metric development and analysis
- Coastal geomorphology analysis
- Multimedia
Below are multimedia items associated with this project.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Introduction: Special issue on advances in topobathymetric mapping, models, and applications
Detailed knowledge of near-shore topography and bathymetry is required for many geospatial data applications in the coastal environment. New data sources and processing methods are facilitating development of seamless, regional-scale topobathymetric digital elevation models. These elevation models integrate disparate multi-sensor, multi-temporal topographic and bathymetric datasets to provide a coAuthorsDean B. Gesch, John Brock, Christopher E. Parrish, Jeffrey N. Rogers, C. Wayne WrightFilter Total Items: 18One-meter topobathymetric digital elevation model for Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, 1944 to 2016
Atoll and island coastal communities are highly exposed to sea-level rise, tsunamis, storm surges, rogue waves, king tides, and the occasional combination of multiple factors, such as high regional sea levels, extreme high local tides, and unusually strong wave set-up. The elevation of most of these atolls averages just under 3 meters (m), with many areas roughly at sea level. The lack of high-resAuthorsMonica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Sandra K. Poppenga, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Dean J. Tyler, Dean B. Gesch, Maria Kottermair, Andrea Jalandoni, Edward Carlson, Cindy A. Thatcher, Matthew M. BarbeeDepth calibration and validation of the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar, EAARL-B
The original National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), was extensively modified to increase the spatial sampling density and improve performance in water ranging from 3–44 m. The new (EAARL-B) sensor features a 300% increase in spatial density, which was achieved by optically splitting each laser pulse into 3 pulses spatially separaAuthorsC. Wayne Wright, Christine J. Kranenburg, Timothy A. Battista, Christopher ParrishTopobathymetric elevation model development using a new methodology: Coastal National Elevation Database
During the coming decades, coastlines will respond to widely predicted sea-level rise, storm surge, and coastalinundation flooding from disastrous events. Because physical processes in coastal environments are controlled by the geomorphology of over-the-land topography and underwater bathymetry, many applications of geospatial data in coastal environments require detailed knowledge of the near-shoAuthorsJeffrey J. Danielson, Sandra K. Poppenga, John Brock, Gayla A. Evans, Dean J. Tyler, Dean B. Gesch, Cindy A. Thatcher, John BarrasHydrologic connectivity: Quantitative assessments of hydrologic-enforced drainage structures in an elevation model
Elevation data derived from light detection and ranging present challenges for hydrologic modeling as the elevation surface includes bridge decks and elevated road features overlaying culvert drainage structures. In reality, water is carried through these structures; however, in the elevation surface these features impede modeled overland surface flow. Thus, a hydrologically-enforced elevation surAuthorsSandra K. Poppenga, Bruce B. WorstellModeling and simulation of storm surge on Staten Island to understand inundation mitigation strategies
Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012, near Brigantine, New Jersey, and had a transformative impact on Staten Island and the New York Metropolitan area. Of the 43 New York City fatalities, 23 occurred on Staten Island. The borough, with a population of approximately 500,000, experienced some of the most devastating impacts of the storm. Since Hurricane Sandy, protective dunes have beenAuthorsMichael E. Kress, Alan I. Benimoff, William J. Fritz, Cindy A. Thatcher, Brian O. Blanton, Eugene DzedzitsLidar-based mapping of flood control levees in south Louisiana
Flood protection in south Louisiana is largely dependent on earthen levees, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the state’s levee system has received intense scrutiny. Accurate elevation data along the levees are critical to local levee district managers responsible for monitoring and maintaining the extensive system of non-federal levees in coastal Louisiana. In 2012, high resolution airborAuthorsCindy A. Thatcher, Samsung Lim, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Dustin R. KimbrowEvaluation of airborne lidar elevation surfaces for propagation of coastal inundation: the importance of hydrologic connectivity
Detailed information about coastal inundation is vital to understanding dynamic and populated areas that are impacted by storm surge and flooding. To understand these natural hazard risks, lidar elevation surfaces are frequently used to model inundation in coastal areas. A single-value surface method is sometimes used to inundate areas in lidar elevation surfaces that are below a specified elevatiAuthorsSandra K. Poppenga, Bruce B. WorstellDevelopment of the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) for predicting the impact of storms on high-energy, active-margin coasts
The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) applies a predominantly deterministic framework to make detailed predictions (meter scale) of storm-induced coastal flooding, erosion, and cliff failures over large geographic scales (100s of kilometers). CoSMoS was developed for hindcast studies, operational applications (i.e., nowcasts and multiday forecasts), and future climate scenarios (i.e., sea-levAuthorsPatrick L. Barnard, Maarten van Ormondt, Li H. Erikson, Jodi Eshleman, Cheryl J. Hapke, Peter Ruggiero, Peter Adams, Amy C. FoxgroverLevee crest elevation profiles derived from airborne lidar-based high resolution digital elevation models in south Louisiana
This study explores the feasibility of using airborne lidar surveys to construct high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) and develop an automated procedure to extract levee longitudinal elevation profiles for both federal levees in Atchafalaya Basin and local levees in Lafourche Parish, south Lousiana. This approach can successfully accommodate a high degree of levee sinuosity and abrupt cAuthorsMonica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Cindy A. Thatcher, John A. BarrasTopobathymetric model of Mobile Bay, Alabama
Topobathymetric Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are a merged rendering of both topography (land elevation) and bathymetry (water depth) that provides a seamless elevation product useful for inundation mapping, as well as for other earth science applications, such as the development of sediment-transport, sea-level rise, and storm-surge models. This 1/9-arc-second (approximately 3 meters) resolutioAuthorsJeffrey J. Danielson, John Brock, Daniel M. Howard, Dean B. Gesch, Jamie M. Bonisteel-Cormier, Laurinda J. TraversEmerging methods for the study of coastal ecosystem landscape structure and change
Coastal landscapes are heterogeneous, dynamic, and evolve over a range of time scales due to intertwined climatic, geologic, hydrologic, biologic, and meteorological processes, and are also heavily impacted by human development, commercial activities, and resource extraction. A diversity of complex coastal systems around the globe, spanning glaciated shorelines to tropical atolls, wetlands, and baAuthorsJohn Brock, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sam PurkisLand loss due to recent hurricanes in coastal Louisiana, U.S.A.
The aim of this study is to improve estimates of wetland land loss in two study regions of coastal Louisiana, U.S.A., due to the extreme storms that impacted the region between 2004 and 2009. The estimates are based on change-detection-mapping analysis that incorporates pre and postlandfall (Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike) fractional-water classifications using a combination of high-resAuthorsMonica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Christine J. Kranenburg, John A. Barras, John Brock - Web Tools
CoNED Project Viewer
The Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) Project Viewer is a portal to the topobathymetric models created with the expertise of the expertise of the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, SD.