NOAA’s Perspective On A National Lidar Initiative Dr. Kirk Waters NOAA Ocean Service February 15, 2007

One NOAA Mission: To understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our nation’s economic, social and environmental needs NOAA Oceans & Coasts Service NOAA Research NOAA Fisheries Service NOAA National Weather Service NWS NMFS NOS OAR NOAA Satellite & Information Service NESDIS NOAA Program Planning & Integration PPI

NOAA Mission Goals Ecosystems Climate Weather and Water Commerce and Transportation (NOAA Strategic Planning Office)

NOAA Ocean Service Office of Coast Survey Coastal Services Center National Geodetic Survey National Marine Sanctuaries Ocean & Coastal Resource Management Office of Response & Restoration National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Center for Operational Oceanographic Products & Services CO-OPS NCCOS NGS OCRM CSCOCS NMSORR LIDAR use/expertise is concentrated in NOS Special Projects Office SPO

Importance of LIDAR Coastal hazards / flooding Coastal uplands / ecosystem management Hydrography Shoreline mapping Storm modeling Coastal Erosion Benthic habitats

Research to Operations Bathymetric mapping LIDAR tested in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico Region Technology now used to augment NOAA operations Shoreline Mapping LIDAR tested in Alaska and New York Technology now used to augment NOAA operations Topographic Mapping ALACE Project 1996 – 2000 –NOAA / NASA / USGS partnership –Airborne LIDAR Assessment of Coastal Erosion (ALACE) –Proof of concept / mapping research –Sandy beaches of U.S. Technology now widely used for coastal applications Topo/Bathy Mapping JALBTCX partnership (USACE / Navy / NOAA) Research led to operational mapping program (national scale) Continued sensor research

Mapping (operations)

Bathymetry (Mapping) Bathy LIDAR Augment acoustic surveys Habitat mapping Industry partnerships NOAA Goal relevance: Commerce & Transportation, Ecosystems Entrance to Lake Union, WA

NOAA Applications Hydrography –nautical charting / safe navigation Emerging … Benthic habitat –Corals, seagrass, etc. Coastal resource management and conservation (multiple uses) Bathymetry (Mapping) Tampa, FL Broward County, FL

Operational data acquisition and dissemination –JALBTCX partnership (USACE, Navy, NOAA) –USACE/Navy: data acquisition –NOAA: data distribution via web (LIDAR Data Retrieval Tool – LDART) –National in scope –SHOALS / CHARTS / LADS systems Extending utility of data to storm surge modeling and resource management communities Industry partnerships Key coordination groups: Gulf of Mexico Alliance, Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ), FEMA NOAA Goal relevance: Weather & Water, Commerce & Transportation, Climate Topo/Bathy (Mapping)

NOAA Applications Hazards mitigation –Flood inundation/storm surge modeling –Coastal erosion Shoreline delineation –VDatum Applications Beach change Tsunami Inundation Mapping –Nearshore Bathymetry Sea-level rise Topo/Bathy (Mapping) Central California Coast

Topo LIDAR – preferred technology National in scope –Coastal counties / immediate coastal watersheds –Current focus: Gulf of Mexico, East coast Industry partnerships –Provide wide distribution for maximum application at state and local levels –Open access to all data collected, via web Key coordination groups: FEMA, National Digital Elevation Program (NDEP), National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) NOAA Goal relevance: Ecosystems Coastal Uplands (Mapping)

NOAA Applications Watershed/ecosystem management and planning Watershed modeling / water quality –Stream flow –Pollutant loading –Erosion potential Visualization Big Sur, CA

Coastal Uplands Elkhorn Slough, CA

Resolutions Required Application dependent –4 meter for bathymetry, 2 meter for benthic rugosity. IHO Standards for charting –Between 1 and 5 meters for ecosystem management –1 meter or less for feature extraction –Between 1 and 5 meters for floodplain mapping –2 meters or less for shoreline

Lidar User Requests by Cell Size Defaults feetmeters

Vertical Accuracy True needs may be difficult to nail down. Some considerations: –Needs are often model and terrain dependent. –Many coastal management users are looking for 1 foot contours. –Relative accuracy can be more relevant than absolute accuracy

Additional Recommendations Full waveform lidar returns from a calibrated system –Allows true reflectance of seafloor for benthic classification. –Allows estimation of water column optical properties. –Positions users to take advantage as new analysis tools become available. Wetlands mapping Obstruction surveying, etc.

Formats LAS format is OK for points, but has some problems. –Time stamps –Bathy problematic Many users need data in a grid. Many engineering processes still require contours.

User Requests by Format

Time Requirements Shoreline Mapping –Low tide topo + high tide bathy to provide overlap. –Without bathy, need mean lower low water collection. Seasons –Leaf-off conditions for water flow –Leaf-on conditions for forestry Low Turbidity for Bathymetry

Product Derivatives Most users need a bare-earth product First surface can also be important Breaklines for modeling

Repeat Cycle Updates will clearly be needed, but expect timing is location dependent May be able to use cheaper technology (e.g. land cover, IfSAR) to detect areas of change requiring update. Full repeat coverage on a 10 or 20 year cycle may be sufficient if targeted updates can be made.

NOAA Data Storage/Distribution Lidar Topography –Stored at Coastal Services Center and distributed via –Archived at National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). Ship Surveyed Bathymetry –Stored and distributed by NGDC

Storage: Ellipsoidal versus Orthometric Should the base data be in ellipsoidal or orthometric heights? –Data use is almost always in orthometric. –Updates in the Geoid model may cause errors in change detection if we don’t take adequate care. (e.g. comparing NAVD88(Geoid96) with NAVD88(Geoid03)

Vision for the Future Accurate, seamless topo/bathy for entire coastal zone; regular updates Moderate resolution (~5 m) elevation data for large ecosystems High resolution (<1 m) elevation data for all immediate coastal watersheds Improved storm surge modeling, flood forecasting Openly accessible data for all coastal management applications

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