Using LIDAR to improve fluvial erosion hazard (FEH) mapping

A major source of flood losses is damage to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure caused by fluvial or river erosion - where flood waters erode stream and river banks or even change course, shifting where they flow across the landscape. A challenge working with fluvial systems has been predicting where a shift will occur. We are developing a data fusion approach to access the sensitivity of FEH in different physiographic regions of Indiana through the use of in situ and remote sensor data. Specifically the 2011-2013 Indiana Orthophotography, LiDAR, and Elevation Dataset (IMAGIS), and alluvial soil layers generated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). These data provide a tremendous amount of information allowing us to determine where the stream might potentially erode at both the watershed and stream reach scale.