2019-2020 NOAA NGS Topobathy Lidar: Coastal VA, NC, SC

3,075,010 acres of coastal terrain and seafloor were surveyed using multiple airborne lidar systems from November 2019 to August 2020. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collected this point cloud data, which includes intensity values, return numbers, scan angles, and time stamps. Data is formatted in LAS 1.4 with ASPRS-standard classifications.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal erosion and storm surge inundation based on detailed terrain and bathymetric elevation data.
• Creating digital elevation models (DEMs) for habitat mapping based on classified point cloud data.
• Analyzing seafloor topography changes based on bathymetric lidar returns.
• Calibrating satellite-derived bathymetry estimates based on high-accuracy airborne lidar ground truth.

Strengths

• Covers approximately 3,075,010 acres across three U.S. states.
• Data collected using nine sensor blocks with multiple high-end lidar systems (e.g., Riegl VQ880GII, Leica Chiroptera).
• Includes multiple data attributes: intensity, number of returns, return number, time, and scan angle.
• Adheres to ASPRS classification standards for point cloud data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale processing.
• Data is provided in PDF and HTML formats, which may require conversion for direct analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Airborne lidar collection by NV5 Geospatial using Riegl and Leica systems.

Time Range

2019-11 26 to 2020-08-25

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:08:18.501988; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Coastal areas of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, USA.