Abstract

Rapid Levee Toe Identification/Delineation from LiDAR Data
Track: Lidar and 3D Mapping
Authors: Chieko Plotts, Pani Ramalingam, Chris Acosta

The Central Valley Floodplain Evaluation and Delineation (CVFED) Program is one of several programs within the FloodSAFE initiative and has multiple objectives including developing updated hydrologic and hydraulic models acceptable to DWR, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
As part of CVFED project, the GIS group was tasked to complete several challenging yet time critical tasks involving identification of surface features using LiDAR data: To identify the highest points throughout the highways and to delineate levee toes automatically. The original approach of manual processing of both tasks was found to be inaccurate and inefficient. Employing a semi-automatic method using ModelBuilder with LiDAR data, we were able to complete both tasks. The model was simulated to delineate levee toes for different scenarios: with or without berms. This model improved accuracy and efficiency of the original processing.