The United States has 95,000 miles of shoreline. These dynamic coastal regions
are vulnerable to flooding, property destruction, and beach erosion from
severe weather and sea level change.
Coastal areas rely on accurate elevation data to plan and recover when hazardous
situations arise.
These communities depend on up to date information for their management and
resiliency planning. As part of its mission,
NOAA's national geodetic survey (NGS) provides an accurate consistent and
current national shoreline.
NGS' mean high-water line is considered the nation's official shoreline.
It is used to create and maintain NOAA nautical charts.
These charts are used by commercial and recreational boaters to navigate safely
and avoid potential hazards.
NGS' shoreline is also a crucial source for defining our nation's boundaries and
territorial limits. Remotely-sensed data from aircraft is collected to map the
shoreline. The use of aircraft based sensors such as a digital camera and