Higher Ground

A yearlong topographic and demographic study of New Orleans arrives this month like the latest installment of the television series "MythBusters" -- and may forever change the notion of the Big Easy as a below-sea-level city.

"Contrary to popular perceptions, half of New Orleans is at or above sea level," according to the study by Tulane and Xavier universities' Center for Bioenvironmental Research.

Yep, half.

And if you want to cling to other myths, such as Monkey Hill at Audubon Zoo being the highest spot in New Orleans, avoid the study's author, a celebrated research professor who years ago went house-hunting in Bywater with his wife, Marina, toting topographic maps.

"No, Monkey Hill is not the highest," said Richard Campanella, leaning over to review elevation data captured by LIDAR, a precise light imaging detection technology, to support his point. "It's 25.4 feet high; a hill in the Couturie Forest in City Park is 27.5 feet."

In the study, data captured with LIDAR from 1999 through 2001 were used to identify the heavily populated areas in the New Orleans area that are at and above sea level, replacing impressions with facts. In calculating the proportion of the city above sea level, sparsely inhabited areas such as Bayou Sauvage were not accounted for.

"Innumerable media reports following Hurricane Katrina described the topography of New Orleans as unconditionally below sea level," the study notes. "This oversimplification is inaccurate by half, and its frequent repetition does a great disservice to the city."

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