Lidar Scans Over the Carolinas Accelerate Hurricane Recovery

Abstract

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) called upon MIT Lincoln Laboratory to use its state-of-the-art light detection and ranging (lidar) system to image the destruction from hurricane Florence. A high-resolution 3D model of the scanned area depicts the heights of structures and landscape features. Laboratory analysts can then process this data to glean information that helps FEMA focus their recovery efforts—for example, by estimating the number of collapsed houses in an area, the volume of debris piles, and the reach of flood waters.