Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) Applications Active
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
Consideration of vertical uncertainty in elevation-based sea-level rise assessments: Mobile Bay, Alabama case study
Accuracy assessment of a mobile terrestrial lidar survey at Padre Island National Seashore
Introduction to the special issue on “Understanding and predicting change in the coastal ecosystems of the northern Gulf of Mexico”
Quantifying landscape change in an arctic coastal lowland using repeat airborne LiDAR
Increases in air, permafrost, and sea surface temperature, loss of sea ice, the potential for increased wave energy, and higher river discharge may all be interacting to escalate erosion of arctic coastal lowland landscapes. Here we use airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data acquired in 2006 and 2010 to detect landscape change in a 100 km2 study area on the Beaufort Sea coastal plain of
Economic vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast
Using Selective Drainage Methods to Extract Continuous Surface Flow from 1-Meter Lidar-Derived Digital Elevation Data
- 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.
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: 18Consideration of vertical uncertainty in elevation-based sea-level rise assessments: Mobile Bay, Alabama case study
The accuracy with which coastal topography has been mapped directly affects the reliability and usefulness of elevationbased sea-level rise vulnerability assessments. Recent research has shown that the qualities of the elevation data must be well understood to properly model potential impacts. The cumulative vertical uncertainty has contributions from elevation data error, water level data uncertaAuthorsDean B. GeschAccuracy assessment of a mobile terrestrial lidar survey at Padre Island National Seashore
The higher point density and mobility of terrestrial laser scanning (light detection and ranging (lidar)) is desired when extremely detailed elevation data are needed for mapping vertically orientated complex features such as levees, dunes, and cliffs, or when highly accurate data are needed for monitoring geomorphic changes. Mobile terrestrial lidar scanners have the capability for rapid data colAuthorsSamsung Lim, Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Dustin R. Kimbrow, Jeffrey J. Danielson, B.J. ReynoldsIntroduction to the special issue on “Understanding and predicting change in the coastal ecosystems of the northern Gulf of Mexico”
The coastal region of the northern Gulf of Mexico owes its current landscape structure to an array of tectonic, erosional and depositional, climatic, geochemical, hydrological, ecological, and human processes that have resulted in some of the world's most complex, dynamic, productive, and threatened ecosystems. Catastrophic hurricane landfalls, ongoing subsidence and erosion exacerbated by sea-levAuthorsJohn Brock, John A. Barras, S. Jeffress WilliamsQuantifying landscape change in an arctic coastal lowland using repeat airborne LiDAR
Increases in air, permafrost, and sea surface temperature, loss of sea ice, the potential for increased wave energy, and higher river discharge may all be interacting to escalate erosion of arctic coastal lowland landscapes. Here we use airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data acquired in 2006 and 2010 to detect landscape change in a 100 km2 study area on the Beaufort Sea coastal plain of
AuthorsBenjamin M. Jones, Jason M. Stoker, Ann E. Gibbs, Guido Grosse, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, Thomas A. Douglas, Nichole E.M. Kinsman, Bruce M. RichmondEconomic vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast
The northern Gulf of Mexico coast of the United States has been identified as highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, based on a combination of physical and societal factors. Vulnerability of human populations and infrastructure to projected increases in sea level is a critical area of uncertainty for communities in the extremely low-lying and flat northern gulf coastal zone. A rapidly growing populaAuthorsCindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Elizabeth A. PendletonUsing Selective Drainage Methods to Extract Continuous Surface Flow from 1-Meter Lidar-Derived Digital Elevation Data
Digital elevation data commonly are used to extract surface flow features. One source for high-resolution elevation data is light detection and ranging (lidar). Lidar can capture a vast amount of topographic detail because of its fine-scale ability to digitally capture the surface of the earth. Because elevation is a key factor in extracting surface flow features, high-resolution lidar-derived digAuthorsSandra K. Poppenga, Bruce B. Worstell, Jason M. Stoker, Susan K. Greenlee - Web Tools