Topobathymetric Lidar Survey of Breton and Gosier Islands, Louisiana, January 16 and 18, 2014

This dataset contains binary point-cloud data and a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), produced from remotely sensed, geographically referenced topobathymetric measurements encompassing the Breton Island and Gosier Islands, LA study area. The original area of interest was buffered by 100 meters to ensure complete coverage, resulting in approximately 75 square miles of lidar data.

The Breton Island Lidar project called for the planning, acquisition, processing, and derivative products of topobathymetric lidar data, collected at a nominal pulse spacing (NPS) of 0.5-0.45 meters (4-5 points/square meter). Lidar acquisition was prioritized to coincide with the lowest tide possible. Water clarity was also assessed and deemed acceptable prior to acquisition flights. The data, in meters, are projected to UTM Zone 16 North and referenced horizontally to the NAD83 (2011) datum and vertically to the NAVD88 (GEOID12A) datum. The classified point-cloud data were delivered in LAS v1.2 format and the merged DEM was converted to a GeoTIFF file. Each LAS file contains data in a 1-kilometer by 1-kilometer tile named according to the US National Grid conventions. The final product was a DEM for Breton Island along with a LAZ file for both Breton Island and Gosier Islands.

For further information regarding data collection and/or processing methods refer to USGS Open-File Report Analysis of Shoreline and Geomorphic Change for Breton Island, Louisiana from 1869 to 2014 (https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161039).