Mapping Vermont in 3D: What Statewide Lidar Is Worth, Use by Use

Vermont sits at the headwaters of many rivers, and landslides happen in every one of its physiographic provinces. Lidar, which measures the bare earth even in densely vegetated areas, sharpens the geologic maps used to find them — and that is the single most valuable use of the elevation data Vermont has gathered through the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP).

What 3DEP is

The U.S. Geological Survey runs 3DEP with federal, state, tribal, territorial and local partners to build the first-ever national baseline of consistent, high-resolution elevation data: lidar everywhere (radar-based IfSAR in Alaska), delivered as bare-earth digital elevation models at 1-meter resolution or better and as full 3D point clouds. The data go into The National Map and are free, without use restrictions.

Nationally, the program is conservatively valued at $690 million a year, with the potential for $13 billion a year more across the economy.

Vermont's coverage, and its value

Vermont's GIS community has a long record of cooperative projects, and in 2019 the state reached statewide QL2 lidar coverage — 100% of the baseline. The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (2012) conservatively estimated at least $1.64 million a year in new benefits to the state:

Status of 3D Elevation Program baseline lidar data in Vermont as of November 2024. Map: U.S. Geological Survey.

What the data do

• Geology and hazards. Detailed bare-earth models sharpen surficial geologic maps used to find landslides, sinkholes and blind valleys, and deposits of sand and gravel.
• Floods. Better, cheaper hydrologic and hydraulic modeling for flood studies, retention-dam design, dam-breach studies and stormwater engineering; identifying vulnerable properties in floodplains; and 3D models showing what a flood would do.
• Conservation. Grade stabilization, dam safety oversight, habitat easements, pipeline siting, terracing, wetland restoration, and finding cultural features and old drained wetlands — with less fieldwork.
• Farming. A truer picture of the terrain for precision farming: better yields, less soil degradation and groundwater use, less chemical runoff, and spotting fields that flood often and need care to keep manure and fertilizer out of the water.

What comes next

With QL2 complete, the state needs sharper and more frequent data. Benefits would grow with QL1 for critical uses; statewide QL1 was expected in the third quarter of 2025. The other need is bathymetric lidar, which maps what lies under water. Lake Champlain — 435 square miles, with nearly 600 miles of shoreline across Vermont, New York and Quebec — is the state's most important surface water and an economic engine. A University of Michigan research scientist working on its models, Dmitry Beletsky, has said shallow-water lidar would improve forecasts of dangerous lake conditions and future shore protection, better define where tributaries meet the lake in a flood-forecasting model, and improve modeling of ice, sediment and pollutants. The Connecticut River and Vermont's other lakes and ponds would benefit too.

Anyone from federal, state, tribal, territorial or local government, or the private sector, can take part in 3DEP — contributing funds, managing their own projects with cooperative funds, or offering existing data that meet its standards — through an annual Data Collaboration Announcement.

Sources

Based on "The 3D Elevation Program — Supporting Vermont's Economy," U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2025–3033, drawing on the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (Dewberry, 2012); a work of the United States government in the public domain; rewritten in hubnx's own words. The map is reproduced from the fact sheet.