Three federal agencies recently announced plans to to remap parts of the East Coast where Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc a year ago.
The effort, joined by NOAA, the US Geological Survey and the US Army Corps of Engineers, will focus on retrieving data that can then be used to update land maps and nautical charts.
"Our approach is to map once, then use the data for many purposes," NOAA Rear Admiral Gerd Glang, director of NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, said in a statement.
The undertaking will include using ships, aircraft and satellites to measure water depths, identify any submerged debris and record altered shorelines in high priority areas based on their relative dangers to navigation and effects from the storm. Input from state and local officials as well as representatives of the maritime industry is all being taken into account as well in the selection of areas where remapping is needed.
Upon completion, the resulting data will be made available to open, local, state and federal agencies in addition to academics and the general public, according to those behind the project, adding that it will prove useful in everything from updating nautical charts and removing marine debris to replenishing beaches, making repairs and planning for future storms.
"The human deaths and the powerful landscape-altering destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy are a stark reminder that our nation must become more resilient to coastal hazards," said Kevin Gallagher, associate director for Core Science Systems at USGS. "Sandy's most fundamental lesson is that storm vulnerability is a direct consequence of the elevation of coastal communities in relation to storm waves."
In the end, the survey, which will include shorelines in areas from South Carolina to Maine, will benefit countless communities "better prepare for storm impacts, develop response strategies, and design resilient and cost-efficient post-storm redevelopment."