Cindy Thatcher
Cindy Thatcher is a geographer with the U.S. Geological Survey National Geospatial Program in Reston, VA.
She serves as the elevation planning and management lead for the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). She has a background in ecological applications of airborne and terrestrial lidar, with a focus on the use of lidar for mapping coastal topography and analyzing vegetation structure. Cindy previously worked at USGS science centers in Virginia, Louisiana, and Tennessee, where she conducted research on coastal environments, wetlands, and wildlife habitat.
Education and Certifications
Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Arkansas
Bachelor’s degree from James Madison University
Certified GIS Professional (GISP)
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 88
Topobathymetric elevation model development using a new methodology: Coastal National Elevation Database Topobathymetric 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...
Authors
Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sandra K. Poppenga, John Brock, Gayla A. Evans, Dean J. Tyler, Dean B. Gesch, Cindy A. Thatcher, John Barras
Modeling and simulation of storm surge on Staten Island to understand inundation mitigation strategies Modeling 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...
Authors
Michael E. Kress, Alan I. Benimoff, William J. Fritz, Cindy A. Thatcher, Brian O. Blanton, Eugene Dzedzits
Creating a Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) for science and conservation applications Creating a Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) for science and conservation applications
The U.S. Geological Survey is creating the Coastal National Elevation Database, an expanding set of topobathymetric elevation models that extend seamlessly across coastal regions of high societal or ecological significance in the United States that are undergoing rapid change or are threatened by inundation hazards. Topobathymetric elevation models are raster datasets useful for...
Authors
Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sandra K. Poppenga, Dean B. Gesch, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, John Barras, Gayla A. Evans, Ann Gibbs
Lidar-based mapping of flood control levees in south Louisiana Lidar-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...
Authors
Cindy A. Thatcher, Samsung Lim, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Dustin R. Kimbrow
Automatic delineation of seacliff limits using lidar-derived high-resolution DEMs in southern California Automatic delineation of seacliff limits using lidar-derived high-resolution DEMs in southern California
Seacliff erosion is a serious hazard with implications for coastal management and is often estimated using successive hand-digitized cliff tops or bases (toe) to assess cliff retreat. Even if efforts are made to standardize manual digitizing and eliminate subjectivity, the delineation of cliffs is time-consuming and depends on the analyst's interpretation. An automatic procedure is...
Authors
Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Cindy A. Thatcher, Amy C. Foxgrover, Patrick L. Barnard, John Brock, Adam Young
Levee crest elevation profiles derived from airborne lidar-based high resolution digital elevation models in south Louisiana Levee 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...
Authors
Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Cindy A. Thatcher, John A. Barras
Florida Panhandle Florida Panhandle
Throughout the past century, emergent wetlands have been declining across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergent wetland ecosystems provide a multitude of resources, including plant and wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational economic activity, and natural barriers against storms. As emergent wetland losses increase, so does the need for information on the causes and effects of this loss...
Authors
Lawrence R. Handley, Kathryn A. Spear, Barbara Albrecht, Karen Bruening, Alison McDowell, René Baumstark, Ryan Moyer, Cindy A. Thatcher
Accuracy assessment of a mobile terrestrial lidar survey at Padre Island National Seashore Accuracy 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...
Authors
Samsung Lim, Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Dustin R. Kimbrow, Jeffrey J. Danielson, B.J. Reynolds
Statewide summary for Florida Statewide summary for Florida
Throughout the past century, emergent wetlands have been declining across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergent wetland ecosystems provide a multitude of resources, including plant and wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational economic activity, and natural barriers against storms. As emergent wetland losses increase, so does the need for information on the causes and effects of this loss...
Authors
Lawrence R. Handley, Kathryn A. Spear, René Baumstark, Ryan Moyer, Cindy A. Thatcher
A data-based conservation planning tool for Florida panthers A data-based conservation planning tool for Florida panthers
Habitat loss and fragmentation are the greatest threats to the endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). We developed a data-based habitat model and user-friendly interface so that land managers can objectively evaluate Florida panther habitat. We used a geographic information system (GIS) and the Mahalanobis distance statistic (D2) to develop a model based on broad-scale...
Authors
Jennifer L. Murrow, Cindy A. Thatcher, Frank T. van Manen, Joseph D. Clark
Economic vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast Economic 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...
Authors
Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Elizabeth A. Pendleton
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay
No abstract available.
Authors
Larry Handley, Kathryn Spear, Lindsay Cross, René Baumstark, Ryan Moyer, Cindy A. Thatcher
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 88
Topobathymetric elevation model development using a new methodology: Coastal National Elevation Database Topobathymetric 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...
Authors
Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sandra K. Poppenga, John Brock, Gayla A. Evans, Dean J. Tyler, Dean B. Gesch, Cindy A. Thatcher, John Barras
Modeling and simulation of storm surge on Staten Island to understand inundation mitigation strategies Modeling 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...
Authors
Michael E. Kress, Alan I. Benimoff, William J. Fritz, Cindy A. Thatcher, Brian O. Blanton, Eugene Dzedzits
Creating a Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) for science and conservation applications Creating a Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) for science and conservation applications
The U.S. Geological Survey is creating the Coastal National Elevation Database, an expanding set of topobathymetric elevation models that extend seamlessly across coastal regions of high societal or ecological significance in the United States that are undergoing rapid change or are threatened by inundation hazards. Topobathymetric elevation models are raster datasets useful for...
Authors
Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sandra K. Poppenga, Dean B. Gesch, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, John Barras, Gayla A. Evans, Ann Gibbs
Lidar-based mapping of flood control levees in south Louisiana Lidar-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...
Authors
Cindy A. Thatcher, Samsung Lim, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Dustin R. Kimbrow
Automatic delineation of seacliff limits using lidar-derived high-resolution DEMs in southern California Automatic delineation of seacliff limits using lidar-derived high-resolution DEMs in southern California
Seacliff erosion is a serious hazard with implications for coastal management and is often estimated using successive hand-digitized cliff tops or bases (toe) to assess cliff retreat. Even if efforts are made to standardize manual digitizing and eliminate subjectivity, the delineation of cliffs is time-consuming and depends on the analyst's interpretation. An automatic procedure is...
Authors
Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Cindy A. Thatcher, Amy C. Foxgrover, Patrick L. Barnard, John Brock, Adam Young
Levee crest elevation profiles derived from airborne lidar-based high resolution digital elevation models in south Louisiana Levee 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...
Authors
Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Cindy A. Thatcher, John A. Barras
Florida Panhandle Florida Panhandle
Throughout the past century, emergent wetlands have been declining across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergent wetland ecosystems provide a multitude of resources, including plant and wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational economic activity, and natural barriers against storms. As emergent wetland losses increase, so does the need for information on the causes and effects of this loss...
Authors
Lawrence R. Handley, Kathryn A. Spear, Barbara Albrecht, Karen Bruening, Alison McDowell, René Baumstark, Ryan Moyer, Cindy A. Thatcher
Accuracy assessment of a mobile terrestrial lidar survey at Padre Island National Seashore Accuracy 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...
Authors
Samsung Lim, Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Dustin R. Kimbrow, Jeffrey J. Danielson, B.J. Reynolds
Statewide summary for Florida Statewide summary for Florida
Throughout the past century, emergent wetlands have been declining across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergent wetland ecosystems provide a multitude of resources, including plant and wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational economic activity, and natural barriers against storms. As emergent wetland losses increase, so does the need for information on the causes and effects of this loss...
Authors
Lawrence R. Handley, Kathryn A. Spear, René Baumstark, Ryan Moyer, Cindy A. Thatcher
A data-based conservation planning tool for Florida panthers A data-based conservation planning tool for Florida panthers
Habitat loss and fragmentation are the greatest threats to the endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). We developed a data-based habitat model and user-friendly interface so that land managers can objectively evaluate Florida panther habitat. We used a geographic information system (GIS) and the Mahalanobis distance statistic (D2) to develop a model based on broad-scale...
Authors
Jennifer L. Murrow, Cindy A. Thatcher, Frank T. van Manen, Joseph D. Clark
Economic vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast Economic 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...
Authors
Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Elizabeth A. Pendleton
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay
No abstract available.
Authors
Larry Handley, Kathryn Spear, Lindsay Cross, René Baumstark, Ryan Moyer, Cindy A. Thatcher