Hurricane & Extreme Storm Impacts Home Hurricane Dennis Coastal Change From Lidar:   Rodanthe, NC   Buxton, NC Oblique Aerial Photography Index:   Area 1   Area 2   Area 3 Project Contact: Abby Sallenger     Selected Locations Selected Survey Locations: Click on one of the two locations above, Rodanthe, NC or Buxton, NC to see photographs and data plots from lidar. HURRICANE DENNIS In terms of peak magnitude, Dennis was a marginal hurricane that deteriorated into a tropical storm before coming ashore in North Carolina. However, its duration was remarkable, sitting off the northern Outer Banks for about a week generating large waves that pounded the coast. In fact, at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility at Duck, North Carolina, wave height was the third highest in the 20 years of record, reaching 6.3 m at a buoy in 20 m of water. FIELD SURVEYS Three types of field surveys were conducted during the week of 9/6 to 9/10/99: Coastal Change From Lidar: NASA, USGS and NOAA surveyed the Dennis impact zone on the Outer Banks of North Carolina using NASA's Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM), a scanning airborne laser altimeter. The survey extended from near the North Carolina/Virginia state line to Ocracoke Inlet, about 50 km southwest of Cape Hatteras. The total swath width of the survey was 500-600 m including the beach and the first foredune ridge. Click on one of the locations on the map above (Rodanthe | Buxton) to see examples of lidar results.   Oblique Aerial Photography Storm Response Flight Airphotos: Click on a boxed area on the map above to view the index of pre- and post-storm airphotos in that area. Oblique Aerial Photography: USGS personnel aboard a small plane acquired oblique video and still photography for the NC coast from Cape Lookout, NC to Sand Bridge, VA. Results from that mission are compared to pre-storm July, 1996 photography on these pages: (see map at right: [Area 1 | Area 2 | Area 3]). Ground Survey: A USGS ground crew visited impacted sites and mapped storm features using handheld GPS. They focused on the reach from Cape Hatteras, NC to Oregon Inlet, NC including Hatteras National Seashore and Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Coastal and Marine Program > Center for Coastal Geology > Research by Theme > Hazards > Hurricane & Extreme Storm Impact Studies > Hurricane Dennis U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal Geology http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/dennis/index.html Address questions and comments to Trent Faust - Webmaster Updated January 29, 2001 @ 12:51 PM (THF)