FY26 3DEP Data Collaboration Announcement (DCA) Selected Projects

Project Descriptions 

AK – Matanuska-Susitna Borough 2026 Lidar Project 

 The Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB) 2026 Lidar Project covers 2,401 square-miles of the most populated and developing areas of the MSB. The last lidar collection for approximately half of the area was in 2011, the other half was collected in 2019. The more recently collected area has gone through considerable topographic change since 2019 due to population growth, transportation projects, new public facilities and structures, flooding, erosion and wildfires. This project will acquire Quality Level 1 (QL1) data in the Spring of 2026 in an effort to get a leaf-off snow-free condition. 

• Project Partner: Matanuska-Susitna Borough 

• Project Size (mi²): 2,401 

• Quality Level: 1 

• Project Approach: Geospatial Products and Services Contract 

MI – Lidar Acquisition - SEMCOG Region - Michigan 

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) is a 7-county region that is home to the City of Detroit and expansive metropolitan area. Detroit is the largest city in Michigan and a major international border crossing between Canada and the USA. The existing QL2 lidar data was acquired in 2017 and is now over 8-years old. The SEMCOG region has experienced a great deal of demolition and new development since 2017. It is expected that change detection and planning for significant infrastructure improvements will be most efficiently achieved by comparing the old QL2 lidar data to new lidar data acquired in partnership with USGS. 

• Project Partner: Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB) on behalf of SEMCOG 

• Project Size (mi²): 3,316 

• Quality Level: 1 & 2 

• Project Approach: Geospatial Products and Services Contract 

MO – MO Southwest 2 Counties 

This project aims to collect QL1 lidar data for 2 counties in Southwest Missouri. This data will be used to support a variety of local, state and federal initiatives, some of which are listed above. By utilizing advanced technologies, the project focuses on collecting data that will assist with detailed analysis and monitoring of various ecological aspects, including streams/rivers, wetlands, forests, grasslands, agriculture, natural communities, invasive species, and other applications. 

• Project Partner: Missouri Department of Conservation 

• Project Size (mi²): 1,352 

• Quality Level: 1 

• Project Approach: Geospatial Products and Services Contract 

NY – Upper Genesee Area NY 

This project continues New York State's (NYS) efforts to update statewide elevation data via lidar collection in coordination with Federal efforts. The planned project will cover portions of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Genesee, Livingston, Steuben, and Wyoming counties. The planned collection will replace portions of several older datasets. All new collections will meet at a minimum Quality Level 2 specifications and are planned to begin in Spring 2026. The planned collection replaces portions of older datasets from 2016, 2017, and 2019. The proposed extents have significant overlap with existing data to provide sufficient data for checking and adjusting spatial alignment. We have selected the project areas following discussions with FEMA, USDA-NRCS and USGS about in-progress and planned Federal lidar collections.  Planning has been completed with input and support from NYS Agencies, as well as counties and regional organizations.  

• Project Partner: New York Office of Information Technology Services 

• Project Size (mi²): 2,767 

• Quality Level: 2 

• Project Approach: Financial Assistance 

TN – TN East 2026 

The State of Tennessee is pursuing the goal of collecting Next Generation 3DEP Quality Level 1 (QL1) lidar to meet the business needs of multiple data users and stakeholders in Tennessee. Tennessee has a strong history of statewide GIS coordination and participation in 3DEP. As part of an enhanced elevation business plan, Tennessee finished statewide collection and has a 4-year plan and committed state funding to recollect the state with QL1. This project submission is year 1 of the planned 4. The collection plan and areas are roughly based on the four TN Dept. of Transportation (TDOT) Regions and delineated by watershed boundary. The proposed collection area is in East TN and covers a large portion of TDOT Region 1. The area also overlaps USDA-NRCS and USDA-FPAC areas of interest. The project area is adjacent to FY25 projects in East TN, Virginia, and Georgia. The project area is delineated by watershed boundary not by political boundary and this causes overlap with some recent projects. State contributing partners are the TN Dept of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and TN Dept of Transportation (TDOT). They have both identified the importance of refreshed elevation data for their operations and have committed over 7 million in funding for the 4-year plan. Federal entities benefiting from this collection would be US Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Dept. of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support various programs. 

• Project Partner: State of Tennessee - Department of Finance and Administration 

• Project Size (mi²): 7,543 

• Quality Level: 1 

• Project Approach: Geospatial Products and Services Contract 

TX – Little, Middle, and Lower Brazos Basins Lidar - Updates to ingest into 3DEP 

The Little, Middle, and Lower Brazos Basins lidar collection covers nearly 23,000 square miles of areas in Central Texas. The acquisition completes 4 watershed boundaries at the hydrologic unit 6 (HU6) level in Texas, allowing for total HU6 watershed level analysis with current QL2 data. Updated data covers areas of the Nueces, Little, Middle Brazos Bosque, Middle Brazos-Clearfork, and Lower Brazos watershed basins. Data acquisition occurred during the leaf-off season, with flights starting January 6, 2025 and ending March 22, 2025. This project was managed by the Texas Strategic Mapping (StratMap) Program and utilized the StratMap contracts held by the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR). Lidar acquired from this project will be used for floodplain management and planning, feature extraction, water quality modeling, stream restoration potential analysis, change detection, wildfire mitigation, and habitat identification/modeling for endangered species. 

• Project Partner: Texas Water Development Board 

• Project Size (mi²): 22,808 

• Quality Level: 2 

• Project Approach: Geospatial Products and Services Contract 

WI – 2026 Wisconsin High-Resolution Lidar Data Collection 

The Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP) in partnership with Wisconsin counties and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) will continue to update lidar statewide through the USGS 3DEP Program. In 2026, QL1 lidar data for eight Wisconsin counties will be collected by USGS through a GPSC acquisition. The project area supports local data needs by the WisDOT, WI Department of Natural Resources, county government, private business and more. Local contributing partners include Calumet, Dodge, Eau Claire, Green Lake, Iron, Lincoln, Marquette, and Sheboygan counties, as well as WisDOT. This project will update some of the oldest data remaining in the state and covers much of the Upper Fox watershed. This watershed has seen significant change and has regular drainage and erosion issues. The new QL1 data will support improved agricultural practices, forestry, planning, transportation, conservation, and more. 

• Project Partner: Wisconsin Department of Administration 

• Project Size (mi²): 5,068 

• Quality Level: 1 

• Project Approach: Geospatial Products and Services Contract