Airborne lidar survey of St Vincent, Eastern Caribbean, following the 2020-21 eruption of La Soufrière Volcano

La Soufrière Volcano is a 1,220 m high stratovolcano that occupies the northern half of the island of St. Vincent, Lesser Antilles, Eastern Caribbean. It has a long history of explosive and sometimes devastating eruptions. Beginning in December 2020 and ending in April 2021, La Soufrière Volcano produced a Volcano Explosivity Index (VEI) 4 eruption that greatly impacted the landscape, communities, and infrastructure on the island of St. Vincent. The eruption produced intense ash plumes, heavy ashfall, and pyroclastic flows down several river valleys. During and following the eruption, destructive lahars (volcanic mudflows) impacted rivers valleys and coastal communities for months. The USGS-USAID Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) provided remote assistance to our counterparts at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center (UWI-SRC) throughout the eruption, predominantly through satellite remote sensing observations. Following the eruption, VDAP contracted the acquisition of airborne lidar though the U.S. Geological Survey's Geospatial Products and Services Contract of the entire island to support our partners throughout the Eastern Caribbean to study the eruption’s impacts, assist in recovery and planning efforts, model hazards, and conduct various other scientific investigations. This data release contains the results of this survey that include 0.6 m and 1 m resolution bare-earth digital elevation models (DEMs) and associated shaded-relief rasters of the island of St. Vincent. The DEMs cover approximately 400 sq km and were created from high-precision airborne lidar surveys performed between December 4, 2021-February 17, 2022. Some gaps exist in these data due to persistent, dense cloud cover in this tropical region. A shapefile of building footprints throughout the island is also included in this data release. Classified point cloud tiles and ortho imagery are available upon request.