Demonstrated Coastal Engineering Applications Using LIDAR Data

Abstract

Robertson, Q.; Wozencraft, J.; Dong, Z.; Pierro, T., and Zhang, K., 2023. Demonstrated coastal engineering applications using lidar data. Journal of Coastal Research, 39(2), 334–346. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. This paper documents the many uses of light detection and ranging (lidar) data within the profession of coastal engineering. Lidar provides the capability to conduct large-scale mapping of coastal engineering projects at high spatial resolutions over short time periods. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Digital Coast is a major access point for lidar data in the United States that provides data sets in analysis-ready formats from a number of data providers, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Coastal Mapping Program. Examples of engineering projects that utilize lidar data are grouped as feasibility studies, design of beach nourishment and borrow areas, monitoring of project performance, and emergency poststorm analysis. The Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise (JALBTCX) toolbox combines metric extraction from lidar data sets with shoreline and volume change within an ESRI GIS environment to provide rapid and long-term assessment of changes along sandy coastlines.