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"First Line of Defense" Against Storm Runup Along Florida's Atlantic Coast
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"First Line of Defense:" Part of map "Coastal 'First Line of Defense' Elevations." The entire map can be found
online.
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Steve Nichols of WTVT Fox Channel 13 in Tampa, FL, interviewed Abby Sallenger (St. Petersburg)
on February 11 about a USGS map of peninsular Florida showing the Atlantic coast's "first line of
defense" against overtopping or inundation by storm waves. The geomorphic features that
constitute the first line of defense are the foredune ridge (the dune ridge closest to the shoreline)
or, if no dune is present, the beach berm. (For areas where dunes are absent and seawalls or
other shore-parallel coastal defense structures are present, the top of the structure becomes the
first line of defense.)
The map shows the relative vulnerability of segments of the U.S. South
Atlantic coast to coastal change as a result of runup during severe storms. For example,
dark-red colors indicate areas of low elevation that are highly vulnerable to overwash and
inundation, whereas light-red colors indicate areas of high elevation that have low vulnerability
to net coastal change. The map was created from lidar (light detecting and ranging) data collected
by NASA's Airborne Topographic Mapper, an airborne system that uses laser light to make precise
topographic surveys. The map is a first step toward characterizing vulnerability to storm impacts
along the southeast coast of the United States. Abby's interview aired on the 6 p.m. broadcast
the same night.
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March 2002
in this issue:
cover story:
African Sahel Dust
Aleutians Documentary
Radio Interview Explores African Dust
Florida Coastal Storm Defenses
Crystal Demonstration
Oceans Day 2002
Home-Schooled Tour
Black History Month
Environmental Academy Web Site
Regional Science Fair
Fishing Symposium
Congressional Briefing—Sea Otter Research
Contracting Meeting
Lake Mead
SEABED Technology
Law of the Sea
Recycling Program
Bill Dillon Retires
John Hughes Clarke—"Imaging Water Mass Variability"
Deltas Seminar
March Publications List
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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