John Haines (Former Employee)

Accurate, high-resolution elevation information is vital to understanding the highly dynamic northern Gulf of America coast, the location of North America’s largest delta system and the focus of one of the largest coastal restoration and flood risk reduction efforts in the United States. The northern Gulf of America topobathymetric digital elevation model (TBDEM) was developed in collaboration...

With an estimated elevation of only 3-meters above sea level, the Majuro Atoll, capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), is extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise, tsunamis, storm surge, and coastal flooding that could impact the sustainability of the infrastructure, groundwater, and ecosystems. Located in the northern tropical Pacific Ocean, the waters surrounding the Majuro Atoll...

Mobile Bay is ecologically important as it is the fourth largest estuary in the United States. The Mobile Bay topobathymetric digital elevation model (TBDEM) was developed in collaboration between U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP) and USGS National Geospatial Program (NGP) using a combination of 71 disparate topographic and bathymetric datasets collected from...

Hurricane Sandy severely impacted the New Jersey/Delaware coast, altering the topography and ecosystems of this heavily populated region. In response to the storm, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program in collaboration with USGS National Geospatial Program , and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration developed three-dimensional (3D) topobathymetric elevation...

Most airborne topographic light detection and ranging (lidar) systems operate within the near-infrared spectrum. Laser pulses from these systems frequently are absorbed by water and do not generate reflected returns on water bodies in the resulting lidar point cloud. Thus, the absence of lidar returns over water is useful for identifying inland water bodies that are not connected by any path to...

Hydrologic connectivity of light detection and ranging (lidar)-derived elevation data is critical for coastal hydrologic modeling applications. However, unless hydrologically-enforced, raised structures (i.e. bridges, roads overlaying culverts) can block overland flow to coastal waters. Because highly detailed lidar-derived elevation surfaces include features such as bridge decks and road fill...