CHARTS-Enabled Data Fusion for Coastal Zone Characterization

The Compact Hydrographic Airborne Rapid Total Survey (CHARTS) system collects lidar and hyperspectral data for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Coastal Mapping Program. CHARTS is owned by the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office and operated jointly with the USACE through the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise. Simultaneous collection and shared geo-referencing enables fusion of the two data types into high-level information products that are used to support decision-making at USACE coastal projects. New products resulting from data fusion research currently coming online are bathymetric laser bottom reflectance images, atmospherically-corrected image mosaics, and hyperspectral final bottom images. All of these products are input for automated classification algorithms that generate physical and environmental characterizations of the coastal zone.