The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Louisiana's economy

Introduction 

Recent and ongoing collections of high-resolution elevation data in Louisiana are providing information that supports improved critical public safety modeling and enables the State to strengthen its efforts to fight the effects of land subsidence and sea-level rise. The availability of current and accurate three-dimensional (3D) elevation data supports numerous business activities, including flood risk management, infrastructure and construction management, coastal zone management, wildlife and habitat management, recreation, agriculture and precision farming, urban and regional planning, water supply and quality assessment, and natural resources conservation. Critical applications that meet the State’s management needs depend on light detection and ranging (lidar) data that provide a highly detailed 3D model of the Earth’s surface and aboveground features.

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in partnership with Federal, State, Tribal, U.S. territorial, and local agencies to acquire consistent lidar coverage at quality level 2 or better to meet the many needs of the Nation and Louisiana. The status of available and in-progress 3DEP baseline lidar data in Louisiana is shown in figure 1. 3DEP baseline lidar data include quality level 2 or better, 1-meter or better digital elevation models, and lidar point clouds, and must meet the Lidar Base Specification version 1.2 (https://www.usgs.gov/3dep/lidarspec) or newer requirements. The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment identified user requirements and conservatively estimated that availability of lidar data would result in at least \$6.96 million in new benefits annually to the State. The top 10 Louisiana business uses for 3D elevation data, which are based on the estimated annual conservative benefits of 3DEP, are shown in table 2.