Sept. 22, 2003 � Hurricane Isabel left her permanent calling card after slamming into the coast of North Carolina last week. North Carolina now has a new inlet courtesy of the Category 2 storm located near Cape Hatteras Village. A NOAA Twin Otter aircraft flew multiple flights Friday through Sunday where it took detailed images of the altered coastline at the request of several North Carolina state agencies, including its Emergency Management Agency and Department of Natural Resources. (Click NOAA image for larger view of new inlet created by Hurricane Isabel near Cape Hatteras Village, N.C., taken Sept. 19, 2003. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please credit “NOAA.”)

The flights were carried out by the NOAA Ocean Service. The NOAA aircraft was equipped with an Applanix-Emerge Digital Sensor System or DSS camera where it took more than 600 images of the North Carolina Coast. This was the maiden voyage of the camera which NOAA is using for research and development of the technology for use in NOAA programs, such as coastal mapping. NOAA acquired the camera two weeks ago. (Click NOAA image for larger view of Hurricane Isabel destruction near Cape Hatteras Village, N.C., taken Sept. 19, 2003. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please credit “NOAA.”)

The camera, which was mounted on the bottom of the NOAA aircraft, has an integrated GPS/Inertial system that allows direct geo-referencing of the imagery without the use of ground control points. The images were taken at an altitude of 7,500 feet.

Unlike the NOAA image of “Ground Zero” at the World Trade Center in New York, which took two weeks to process using film, the North Carolina digital images were produced in about two hours after the aircraft landed.

(Click image for larger view of side-by-side comparison of the new inlet created by Hurricane Isabel near Cape Hatteras Village, N.C. The black and white image taken in 1998 is courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Transportation Photogrammetry Unit. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. The color image was taken by a NOAA aircraft Sept. 19, 2003.)

(Click image for larger view of side-by-side comparison of the Hurricane Isabel destruction near Cape Hatteras Village, N.C. The black and white image taken in 1998 is courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Transportation Photogrammetry Unit. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. The color image was taken by a NOAA aircraft Sept. 19, 2003.)

One NOAA image shows the altered North Carolina coastline near Cape Hatteras Village where a new inlet was created by the waters pushed by Hurricane Isabel. The new inlet is located near the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Park, which is north of Cape Hatteras Village. Another image shows the storm’s destructive force where buildings were moved from their foundations. (Click NOAA satellite image for larger view of Hurricane Isabel close to making landfall taken Sept. 18, 2003, at 7:53 a.m. EDT. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please credit “NOAA.”)

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation�s coastal and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA National Ocean Service

NOAA Geodetic Survey

NOAA Remote Sensing Research and Development

More NOAA Images of the North Carolina Coast

Media Contact:
Greg Hernandez, NOAA, (202) 482-3091