GEOMORPHIC MAP OF KITSAP COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Benefits of this map include: (1) Contacts with an estimated positional accuracy of circa 5 m, mapped from a 6-ft DEM derived from 1 pulse/m2 lidar surveys. (2) A uniform and relatively complete inventory of large landslides. (3) Uniform mapping of likely modern wetlands based on their near-zero slopes and characteristic surface texture that probably reflects incomplete filtering of wetland vegetation from the lidar data. (4) Delineation of beach types (accreted beach against Pleistocene glaciated surface, beach without extensive post-Pleistocene accretion or erosion; accreted beach adjacent to Holocene bluff; Holocene bluff at edge of modern tidal platform) for habitat classification. (5) Identification of alluvial flats and thus the sandy, tillable soils derived from them. (6) Recognition of upland zones where the glaciated surface (commonly underlain by silty till) was reworked by waves and currents during latest Pleistocene and/or early Holocene submergence; much of this zone is underlain by 1-2 meters of clay-free sand and gravel and thus permits relatively low-cost development of drain fields.
Mapping from the lidar DEM is faster (25+ km2/day) than field methods of comparable resolution, similar in character to mapping from air photos in unvegetated terrain but with advantages that stem from working from intrinsically-rectified digital data, and greatly superior to photo-based mapping for forested terrain such as Kitsap County.