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RTK survey in swamp Despite their economic, cultural, and aesthetic value, our nation's coastal areas and marshlands are in serious decline. Since the late 1700s, over half the wetlands in the lower 48 states have disappeared. These losses impact fisheries such as the Chesapeake Bay oyster harvest, which has plummeted from 25 to 1 million pounds per year. Consequently, coastal and wetlands habitat restoration is becoming a national priority.

As a component of NOAA's National Ocean Service, the National Geodetic Survey is contributing remote sensing and geodetic surveying technologies at a number of restoration sites. Orthorectified aerial photography shows site characteristics, differential leveling and static GPS to provide accurate positions and tidal datums to project site, and RTK surveys create digital elevation models of the wetland surface.

Recent projects include the following: 
project map Anacostia Fort McHenry Blackwater NWR Barren Island Eastern Neck Poplar Island
Tools include the following:

Last updated by Joe.Evjen on April 15, 2004