Finkl, C.W. and Vollmer, H.M., 2017. Methods for investigating sediment flux under high-energy conditions on the southeast Florida continental shelf using Laser Airborne Depth Sounding (LADS) in a Geographic Information System (GIS) dataframe.

Laser Airborne Depth Sounding (LADS) bathymetric surveys conducted in 2001 and 2008 bracket two hurricane landfalls (Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005) in Broward County, southeast Florida, thus providing an opportunity to investigate changes in bottom topography as a result of wave and current action. The seafloor in this region is characterized by a wide range of sedimentary features that are normally stabilized (held in place) by outcrops of carbonate bedrock and coral reefs. During high-energy events, however, the sedimentary deposits are partially mobilized by waves and currents. This methodological study used the two LADS bathymetric surveys to construct triangulated irregular networks (TINs, which are a digital means of representing surface morphology) surfaces using the ESRI^® ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension. The two bathymetric TIN surfaces were compared to ascertain spatial gains and losses by landform. Comparison of TIN surfaces provides a means to estimate changes in sediment volume and infer variability in cross-shore sediment transport. Application of this methodological procedure is constrained to locations where seafloor features have been interpreted from the LADS bathymetry so that sediment volume changes can be related to specific landform units.