John Haines (Former Employee)

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...

Coastal shoreline mapping is a particularly complex issue because of the dynamic nature of water levels at the land-water interface, the various tidal vertical datums in use, and the spatial scale of the shoreline delineation. In addition, the definition of a shoreline varies depending on whether the shoreline will be used for nautical charts and navigation, delineating the legal federal and state...

Coastal topographic and bathymetric (topobathymetric) data with high spatial resolution (1-meter or better) and high vertical accuracy are needed to assess the vulnerability of Pacific Islands to climate change impacts, including sea-level rise. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, low-lying atolls in the Pacific Ocean are extremely vulnerable to king tide events...

The USGS Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project organized a workshop in cooperation with the College of Staten Island-City University of New York to discuss storm surge modeling and get input from scientists across a broad community. The workshop, held on April 22-23, 2014 on the College of Staten Island campus, is part of a larger project intended to enhance topobathymetric...

The accuracy with which coastal topography has been mapped directly affects the reliability and usefulness of elevation-based 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...

The Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project supports scientific research and applications assessing restoration, redevelopment, and protection projects in the Hurricane Sandy impact areas along New Jersey and New York coastal beaches.