Carlsbad Caverns creating digital map of cave system

CARLSBAD, N.M. — The National Park Service is creating a digital map of Carlsbad Caverns National Park to help with repairs and maintenance projects.

The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports the agency is using light detection and ranging equipment to digitally map out the entire cave system in southern New Mexico down to the millimeter.

The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas is helping with the $186,000 project, which began in 2015. Staff is shooting images and collect data using laser lights and measuring the reflected light with hundreds of sensors.

The result is supposed to yield a highly-detailed digital three-dimensional map of the cave system.

A final draft of the map is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

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Information from: Carlsbad Current-Argus, http://www.currentargus.com/

The Associated Press

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