South San Francisco Bay 2004 Topographic Lidar Survey: Data Overview and Preliminary Quality Assessment

Tidal wetlands in South San Francisco Bay (South Bay) have decreased by over
80% in the past 150 years. The California Coastal Conservancy, in conjunction
with other state and federal agencies, is collaboratively managing an effort to
restore approximately 61 km2 (15,100 acres) of commercial salt evaporation
ponds in South Bay to mixed intertidal habitat. In order to best develop
restoration strategies, as well as to track morphologic change throughout the
restoration process, a topographic lidar survey was conducted in May of 2004.
The survey collected more than 250 million elevation points in a 334 km2 area
extending from just south of the San Francisco and Oakland airports to the
Alviso salt ponds.

This report details the collection of lidar in South Bay, the ground-truthing
efforts, preliminary accuracy assessments, and known limitations of the data
set. We describe the data generated from the survey and how to obtain it. In
addition, we present maps and sample imagery that provides a revealing look
into the intricate topographic features of South Bay.

[Summary provided by the USGS.]