Regional sediment management using high density lidar data

Assessing the performance of coastal projects requires determining how all the elements interact to define the behavior of the entire system. Recent technologies such as airborne lidar provides the ability to collect coastal survey data on a regional level, demonstrating a systems approach to sediment management in the coastal region. Since becoming available, airborne lidar (SHOALS) has performed numerous coastal surveys which demonstrates the concept of this new technology towards regionalized sediment management. Recognizing the need for regional sediment management, the State of Florida and U,S. Army Corps of Engineers have embarked on adopting a systems approach toward sediment management. The objective of this paper is to describe the airborne lidar capabilities and identify the concept of using this technology towards coastal project sediment management on a regional scale.