Lidar Elevation Data and the Economy of Massachusetts

Massachusetts runs from the Appalachian mountains in the west to the sandy beaches and rocky shores of the Atlantic in the east. Inland, elevation data support geologic mapping, transportation and infrastructure planning, forest and wildlife management, measuring ecological services, protecting water supplies, local site planning and flood-plain management. Along the coast, nearshore bathymetry helps communities face warming seas, strong storm surges and rising sea levels, and keeping ports such as Boston and New Bedford open, and managing Cape Cod's sediment, depends on accurately mapping a seabed that constantly shifts. All of this relies on lidar (light detection and ranging), which produces a detailed three-dimensional model of the ground and what stands on it.

The U.S. Geological Survey's 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), run with federal, state, Tribal, territorial and local partners, collects consistent lidar nationwide. Its baseline data must be quality level 2 or better, with digital elevation models at 1-meter resolution or finer, point clouds, and compliance with the Lidar Base Specification version 1.2 or newer.

Status of 3DEP baseline lidar data in Massachusetts as of April 2025: complete. USGS figure.

An early adopter

Massachusetts was one of the first states to build elevation products from lidar, beginning with a 2002 project covering most towns in the greater Boston area. Cost-sharing with local and federal partners, and later 3DEP, brought quality level 2 coverage to most of the state by 2015. Since then, more detailed quality level 1 lidar has been flown statewide — the eastern region finished in spring 2021 and the western half in 2024. Baseline data availability stands at 100 percent; quality levels 0 and 1 cost extra to collect. MassGIS keeps an index of the latest lidar terrain data.

Quality level 1 lidar from spring 2021, colorized with 2016 National Agricultural Imagery Program imagery, showing the Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge and Massachusetts General Hospital. USGS figure.

What it is worth

The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (Dewberry, 2012) conservatively estimated that lidar would bring Massachusetts at least $1.23 million a year in new benefits. The top uses:

How Massachusetts uses it

Flood risk. Good elevation data cut the cost of field surveys and improve flood studies. Statewide lidar supports detailed models, including dynamic 3D models of flooding from big storms, catastrophic dam failures and coastal storm surge. Quality level 1 data sharpen predictions of how water will move and what it will cover along high-risk coasts, helping communities plan evacuation routes and protect the public.

Conservation. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation manages state parks and oversees more than 450,000 acres. Lidar reduces fieldwork for projects such as grade stabilization, ponds, grassed waterways and terracing, and supports runoff calculations, habitat classification, vegetation mapping, wetland restoration, finding drained historic wetlands, protecting cultural and sensitive sites, and discovering unknown prehistoric and historic earthworks.

Farming. In 2017 Massachusetts agriculture employed more than 25,900 people and produced more than $475 million in goods; greenhouse and nursery products, vegetables, cranberries and milk led the list. More accurate terrain data improve precision farming, which can raise yields, prevent soil degradation and reduce chemical runoff.

Coasts. Seamlessly combining intertidal elevations, seafloor bathymetry and upland topography supports coastal zone management. Lidar can improve coastal hazard models, the mapping of paved and other impervious surfaces, and resilience and storm-response plans that protect the shoreline and the fishing and tourism industries.

Available data can be found and downloaded through the USGS Lidar Explorer.

Sources

• U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2025–3044: "The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting the economy of Massachusetts," citing the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (Dewberry, 2012) and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (2022).