Topography-based Analysis of Hurricane Katrina Inundation of New Orleans

Geospatial data are critical for hurricane response and recovery activities,and topographic data are a primary requirement. High-resolution, high-accuracy elevation data were used extensively during the first weeks of response to Katrina to provide rough estimates of inundation, and they continue to be
useful for studies of the impacts of the storm. Lidar is a relatively new remote-sensing technology
that has advanced significantly over the last 10 years and is now a standard survey tool used by the mapping industry to collect very detailed, high-precision measurements of land-surface elevations. In an effort to improve the quality of the Nation’s topographic data available for mapping and scientific

This image uses colors to represent the sea levels of New Orleans. 

applications, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been integrating recently collected lidar elevation data into the National Elevation Dataset (NED).












Lidar data were collected for southeastern Louisiana in 2002 under the auspices of the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office. These data are publicly available through Atlas, the Louisiana statewide geographic information system Web site operated by Louisiana State University

This image has taken the image above and converted it into the lidar site.