Fall NEARC 2024

Topobathymetric LiDAR has long been a technology available exclusively on fixed wing manned aircraft making it costly and inefficient for smaller targeted surveys. Recent innovations have allowed for the development of more compact systems, allowing organizations to utilize unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to provide more timely, efficient, and affordable topobathymetric LiDAR. On a UAS platform, a topobathymetric survey can produce 200 points of elevation per square meter, capturing microtopography, scours, sediment impoundment and other geomorphologic characteristics. Whiteout Solutions is one of the first commercial vendors leveraging these technological advancements working with engineering firms, scientists, governments, and conservation groups to map ecosystems experiencing the first order impacts of climate change.

The rural community of Lyndon, Vermont has been subject to substantial flooding in recent decades. In 2023, the Town of Lyndon contracted SLR Consulting to conduct a flood study and to identify flood mitigation strategies. Utilizing its topobathy capabilities Whiteout Solutions surveyed roughly six miles of the Passumpsic river and adjacent floodplain. SLR leveraged the topobathymetry data to develop high-resolution 2D hydraulic modeling, allowing them to test and validate the effectiveness of various flood mitigation strategies. The results of this work provided the community with a series of options for how to improve the flood capacity and reduce flood impacts on the community. The high-resolution data not only is providing the engineering firm with more confidence in their models but also results in Lyndonville becoming more resilient to the expected future increases in flood magnitude and frequency.

With technologic advancements in LiDAR and new programs like USGS’s 3DHP, floodplain maps across the nation will benefit from higher accuracy models, better designs and safer communities.