Culture
How Lasers Will Give the U.S. East Coast Precise New Post-Sandy Maps
The survey will kickoff the most revolutionary American mapping project in a century.
Ten months after Superstorm Sandy made landfall on the U.S. East Coast, causing over $65 billion in damage and bringing New York and New Jersey to a standstill, one consequence of the storm is just now coming into focus: its impact on the shape of the coastline, underwater and above.
The storm's devastating effect on human settlements—flooded subways, submerged houses, and hundreds of fatalities—has been well documented. But as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begin a post-Sandy survey from Myrtle Beach to Montauk, its geological footprint remains largely unknown.