Sandra Poppenga (Former Employee)

To support the modeling of the Colorado River water storage area capacity tables by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Utah Water Science Center, the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center created a 3D high-resolution topobathymetric digital elevation model (TBDEM) for Lake Powell. Located in south-central Utah and north-central Arizona, the second largest man-made reservoir in...

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...

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...

Defining near-shore water depth (bathymetry) is problematic because ships cannot operate close to the shore while collecting acoustic bathymetric soundings. Alternatively, optical green laser lidar sensors have been used to collect bathymetric points, however, these types of lidar acquisitions are costly for the footprint collected and are subject to bathymetric inaccuracies in turbid water...

This image is a topobathymetric elevation model of a part of the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is an example of inland bathymetry in the northern Gulf of America. This regional topobathymetric elevation model includes airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) point clouds, hydrographic surveys, side-scan sonar surveys, and multibeam surveys obtained from USGS, NOAA, the State...

The EDNA Stage1B process involves collecting the raw data from the EDNA cooperators, performing QA/QC checks on the raw data, and preparing the data for Stage II of the project. ArcInfo amls are executed to create the seamless database, and ArcView tools are utilized to determine seamless accuracy. The Stage 1B database development provides seamless drainage basin delineations and synthetic...

The results from the Stage 2 delineation will be incorporated into the EDNA development process. Drainage basin areas and synthetic streamline locations found to be in error at Stage 2 will be reanalyzed and, if necessary, the DEM will be reprocessed to ensure that the newly derived streamlines and basin boundaries are consistent with those developed in Stage 2. Delineations derived in this...

The delineations produced in Stage 1 are passed on to appropriate cooperators, who will provide an intensive QA/QC. The derived watersheds will be overlain on 1:24,000 map sheets (as DRGs) and the watershed boundaries will be revised using standard vector editing techniques. These revised boundaries will provide the Stage 2 delineation. Watershed areas found to be in conflict with the DRGs will be...