Initial activities within this sub-task focused on the compilation of all existing and obtainable airborne lidar elevation data sets and sonar bathymetric data sets acquired recently in the Tampa Bay region. These airborne lidar data sets include UF-Optech surveys of Pinellas County and Terra Ceia, and NASA Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) surveys over Fort DeSoto Park.

In January 2002, a NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) survey was conducted around the margins of Tampa Bay and over a portion of Terra Ceia Currently we are evaluating the NASA EAARL and UF-Optech lidar data sets acquired in January 2002 within the Terra Ceia topography test region.

This evaluation will determining the capacity of each lidar system to retrieve "bald earth" ground elevations over variable land cover. Methods for vegetation removal are being developed based upon the analysis of temporal lidar waveforms (NASA EAARL). The second phase of our activities in FY2003 will be an evaluation of the capacity of the NASA EAARL to accurately retrieve submarine topography in less than 3 meters water depth about the rim of Tampa Bay.