Development of high-resolution coastal DEMs: Seamlessly integrating bathymetric and topographic data to support coastal inundation modeling

The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), an office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is cooperating with the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), Center for Tsunami Research to develop high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) of combined bathymetry and topography. The coastal DEMs will be used as input for the Method of Splitting Tsunami (MOST) model developed by PMEL to simulate tsunami generation, propagation and inundation. The DEMs will also be useful in studies of coastal inundation caused by hurricane storm surge and rainfall flooding, resulting in valuable information for local planners involved in disaster preparedness. We present our methodology for creating the high-resolution coastal DEMs, typically at 1/3 arc-second (10 meters) cell size, from diverse digital datasets collected by numerous methods, in different terrestrial environments, and at various scales and resolutions; one important step is establishing the relationships between various tidal and geodetic vertical datums, which may vary over a gridding region. We also discuss problems encountered and lessons learned, using the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina DEM as an example.