MONITORING NEW-PASS, FLORIDA, WITH HIGH-DENSITY LIDAR BATHYMETRY

New Pass, Florida provides one of three exchanges between the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay. Hydrodynamic conditions in the region provide a micro-tidal environment with a diurnal range of approximately 0.6 m , and maximum flood and ebb current speeds at New Pass are on the orde r of +/-0.6 m/s. The long term average wave height is less than 0.4 m. The area contains an ample supply of sediments with an annual net tra nsport rate on the order of 25,000 m(3). New Pass has been maintained as a federal navigation project since the 1960's, requiring periodic d redging to maintain a navigation channel that tends to migrate southwa rd. The beach to the north, on Longboat Key, was nourished in 1993 wit h sand mined from the pass' ebb tidal shoal. In 1994 anew hydrographic survey system, SHOALS, was field tested in the New Pass vicinity and completed a survey of the the pass. Since the first survey, SHOALS has resurveyed the area on two other occasions obtaining unique data cons isting of high resolution bathymetry. This paper utilizes the high res olution bathymetry produced by three SHOALS surveys to evaluate the co ntinuing evolution of New Pass as it is influenced bg meteorological a nd astronomical forces and man-made changes.