padre island national seashore pictures harvey

The other missions gathered on-site data about sand and sediment - the primary ingredients that build the barrier island system. “So we had next day delivery … each day we flew we added more data to an online map viewer so emergency responders could go to this website and look for evidence of beach hazards or damaged infrastructure out in the bay.” “Collecting data early doesn’t help if you can’t get it out to anybody for them to use,” Paine said. The bureau’s GLOsupported research focused on quickly getting images of the beach and dune system, shipping channels, bays and bird rookeries back to the state so workers could assess damage in these important areas and begin cleanup and recovery efforts. From early September through October, they surveyed the entirety of the Texas Gulf shoreline - flying from South Padre Island near the mouth of the Rio Grande River to Sabine Pass along the Louisiana border. Supported with funds from the GLO as well as the Rapid Response program, he and a team of scientists from the bureau’s NSO research group captured changes from the air using high-resolution photography and LIDAR, an imaging technique that measures landscape elevation. Paine’s mission was the first to take to the coast. After Harvey, the school quickly mounted a multi-pronged research mission that leveraged the expertise and resources of its research units. The program has sent Jackson School scientists to measure aquifer contamination in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, and study the seafloor for signs of coastal erosion in the wake of Hurricane Ike in 2008 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The program funds fieldwork in the aftermath of natural disasters - research that is vitally important for understanding nature’s most powerful forces and their impacts on society, but understudied because of the logistics of funding research on the fly, especially in disaster areas. The Rapid Response Program was created specifically with speed in mind. The barges in the background of this photo were parked at the mooring post in the foreground before Hurricane Harvey floodwaters washed them across San Jose Island. Disappearing with them would be valuable information on the potential lingering impacts of the storm on beaches, wetlands and the state’s narrow string of barrier islands - a delicate system that forms the first line of defense against powerful storms like Harvey. Evidence of the damage caused by the hurricane was starting to disappear, smoothed away by waves and wind or removed by communities on the mend. Thanks to the Jackson School’s Rapid Response program, they were able to quickly gather the resources and equipment they needed to get to the coast fast. He was part of one of three research teams - one from each of the school’s research units - to conduct fieldwork in the aftermath of the storm. Paine and his group weren’t the only ones from the Jackson School to take to the coast. “Within a week of landfall we were out acquiring imagery and topographic data,” Paine said.

By the following Thursday, researchers from the NSO were surveying the aftermath from the air. Paine began discussions with colleagues at the General Land Office (GLO), the state agency that manages coastal lands and is a long-time supporter of coastal studies at the bureau.

Padre island national seashore pictures harvey