Lidar Elevation Data for Kansas: The 3D Elevation Program at Work

High-resolution elevation data help Kansas make decisions that strengthen its economy. The state already uses them for water planning, infrastructure management and resilience to natural disasters, and newer, more accurate data serve conservation, agriculture and precision farming, flood risk management, water supply planning, construction, and geologic assessment and hazard reduction. Much of that depends on lidar — light detection and ranging — which produces a highly detailed three-dimensional model of the ground and everything on it.

The program

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is run by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) with federal, state, tribal, territorial and local partners. Its goal is the first national baseline of consistent, high-resolution elevation data: lidar everywhere (radar-based IfSAR in Alaska), delivered both as bare-earth digital elevation models and as 3D point clouds.

3DEP baseline data must meet quality level 2 or better, provide digital elevation models at 1-meter resolution or better, and follow version 1.2 or newer of the USGS Lidar Base Specification.

In practice, 3DEP lidar has at least two points per square meter and a vertical error of no more than 10 centimeters. All the data are folded into The National Map and are free, with no restrictions on use.

Status of 3DEP baseline lidar data in Kansas as of July 2024: available and in progress statewide, though some areas may be restricted. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey.

Kansas today

Kansas has statewide lidar, mostly quality level 2, collected between 2010 and 2018. Quality level 1 projects existing or under way in 2024 will cover approximately one-third of the state. More will be needed as the older QL2 data pass 3DEP's eight-year guideline, and as QL1 becomes more widely needed for detecting change and for the low-relief terrain that covers much of Kansas. The state also took part in the 3D Nation study, which set out needs for the next generation of lidar.

What it is worth

The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment conservatively estimated that lidar would bring Kansas at least $14.41 million in new benefits a year. Its top nine business uses:

Nationally, the same assessment put 3DEP's benefits at $690 million a year, conservatively, with the potential for $13 billion a year more through uses across the economy.

How Kansas uses lidar

• Water supply and quality. The Kansas Water Vision and Kansas Water Plan assess water supplies and future demand. Lidar supports them by analysing sedimentation upstream of water-supply reservoirs, tracking changes in landforms, finding actively eroding streambanks, calculating sediment lost to downstream reservoirs, studying erosion from farmland, and locating the nutrient and erosion sources behind harmful algal blooms.
• Flood risk. High-resolution elevation data underlie flood mapping by the Kansas Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research. Accurate floodplain maps tell people about the dangers of building in high-risk areas, reducing financial losses and deaths from flooding; quality level 1 data can greatly improve flood inundation modelling.
• Geology and hazards. Lidar makes geologic mapping — including assessments of mineral deposits and geologic hazards — faster and more accurate. Geologic maps show bedrock and thick sediment layers and are essential to research, resource evaluation and land-use planning. Lidar also supports geoarchaeology, helping find likely cultural deposits and reconstruct prehistoric environments.
• Conservation. Lidar helps with soil conservation, streambank stabilisation, modelling pollution from point and non-point sources, and identifying wetlands for wildlife and recreation. The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research and the Kansas Water Office developed a Topographic Wetland Identification Process, a standard method and tool for assessing and prioritising wetlands that any agency, watershed planner or stakeholder group in the state can use for protection and restoration.
• Infrastructure. State and regional agencies use lidar for highway safety improvements, protecting airspace near airports and air ambulance sites, emergency response planning, and designing, building and maintaining bridges and roads.

Joining in

Buying lidar through 3DEP brings economies of scale, predictable federal investment, consistent coverage across boundaries, and simpler acquisition with standard contracts, project management, quality assurance and specifications. Federal, state, tribal, territorial and local governments and private-sector partners can take part, including paying for higher-quality data. Partners can contribute funds to USGS-managed projects or receive cooperative funds for their own, through an annual Data Collaboration Announcement, and organisations can contribute existing data that meet 3DEP requirements.

Sources

Based on "The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting the Kansas Economy," U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2024–3053 (December 2024), published by the U.S. Geological Survey; rewritten in hubnx's own words.

• Figure 1 comes from the fact sheet's PDF: https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2024/3053/fs20243053.pdf
• The fact sheet cites Dewberry (2012) for the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment, Dewberry Engineers (2022) for the 3D Nation study, Heidemann (2012) and Sugarbaker and others (2014) for the quality levels, the Kansas Water Office (2015, 2019, 2022) and Kastens and others (2016).
• The fact sheet's Figure 2, a map of playa lakes in Finney County credited to the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, is not reproduced.