ATM Coastal Topography--Alabama 2001

Raw Lidar data are not in a format that is generally usable by resource managers and scientists. Converting dense Lidar elevation data into a readily usable format without loss of essential information requires specialized processing. The U.S. Geological Survey's Coastal and Marine Geology (CMG) Program has developed custom software to convert raw Lidar data into a GIS-compatible map product to be provided to GIS specialists, managers, and scientists. The primary tool used in the conversion process is Advanced Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a multi-tiered processing system developed by a USGS-NASA collaborative project. These data are converted to the North American Datum of 1983 and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (using the GEOID03 model). The files are in the Quarter-Quad tiling format and the exact tile location is contained in the file name at ########_fs, where ####### is the Quarter-Quad tile ID.The development of custom software for creating these data products has been supported by the USGS CMG Program's Decision Support for Coastal Parks, Sanctuaries, and Preserves Project. Processed data products are used by the USGS CMG Program's National Assessments of Coastal Change Hazards Project to quantify the vulnerability of shorelines to coastal change hazards such as severe storms, sea-level rise, and shoreline erosion and retreat.