Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, was selected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to collect and process topographic lidar data of Puerto Rico and the islands of Culebra, Vieques, and Isla de Mona.
Falling under the USGS’ Geospatial Product and Services Contract and co-funded by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the data will be used to produce a high-resolution digital elevation model portraying the topography and bathymetry of Puerto Rico and its surrounding islands. The data will provide improved elevation products to support important flood control, emergency management, and natural resource planning activities.
Dewberry will produce more than 3,400 square miles of topographic lidar data for this study and selected Leading Edge Geomatics to perform data acquisition using its Riegl Q680i and Q780 sensors. Dewberry will also process more than 500 square miles of existing topobathymetric lidar data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Geodetic Survey Remote Sensing Division using a Riegl 820G sensor.
“The nearly 4,000 square miles of lidar data we will process contain a variety of geographical challenges that we are uniquely prepared to meet,” said Dewberry Director of Remote Sensing Amar Nayegandhi. “Our professionals have a deep understanding of USGS lidar specifications and a familiarity with the landscape that stems from more than a decade of project work in Puerto Rico. Our more recent experience mapping the East Coast of the U.S. and the state of Alaska has equipped us with the practical knowledge necessary to help make this endeavor a success.”
Dewberry recently produced a high-resolution land cover map of Puerto Rico for NOAA’s Office of Coastal Management’s Coastal Change Analysis Program. The firm has supported projects in Puerto Rico for the Federal Emergency Management Agency since 2006, creating inflow hydrographs, sea level rise studies, mitigation plans, and GIS maps.
