The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Washington

Introduction

Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Washington, elevation data are critical for natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, flood risk management, geologic resource assessment and hazards mitigation, and other business uses. Today, high-density light detection and ranging (lidar) data are the primary sources for deriving elevation models and other datasets. Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies work in partnership to (1) replace data that are older and of lower quality and (2) provide coverage where publicly accessible data do not exist. A joint goal of State and Federal partners is to acquire consistent, statewide coverage to support existing and emerging applications enabled by lidar data.

The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (NEEA; Dewberry, 2011) evaluated multiple elevation data acquisition options to determine the optimal data quality and data replacement cycle relative to cost to meet the identified requirements of the user community. The evaluation demonstrated that lidar acquisition at quality level 2 (table 1) for the conterminous United States and quality level 5 interferometric synthetic aperture radar (ifsar) data (table 1) for Alaska with a 6- to 10-year acquisition cycle provided the highest benefit/cost ratios. The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative (Snyder, 2012a,b) selected an 8-year acquisition cycle for the respective quality levels. 3DEP, managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Office of Management and Budget Circular A–16 lead agency for terrestrial

3DEP in Washington by the Numbers 3D Elevation Program

elevation data, responds to the growing need for high-quality topographic data and a wide range of other 3D representations of the Nation’s natural and constructed features.

3D Elevation Program Benefits for Washington

The top 10 Washington business uses for 3D elevation data, which are based on the estimated annual conserva-

Benefits of a Funded National Program

tive benefits of the 3DEP initiative, are shown in table 2. The NEEA survey respondents in the State of Washington estimated that the national 3DEP initiative would result in at least $9.4 million in new benefits annually to the State. The cost for such a program in Washington is approximately $22.5 million, resulting in a payback period of 2.4 years and a benefit/cost ratio of 3.1 to 1 over an 8-year period. Because monetary estimates were not provided for all reported benefits, the total benefits of the 3DEP to Washington are likely much higher. On the basis of the NEEA survey results, all levels of government and many organizations in Washington could benefit from access to statewide high-resolution elevation data.

For Washington, approximately 69 percent of the identified business use requirements will be met in natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, and flood risk management uses, as shown in table 2. The status of publicly available lidar data in Washington is shown in figure 1. By enhancing coordination between 3DEP and various government and private organizations in Washington, it may be possible to realize more than the cited conservative benefits and attain the higher potential benefits for many business uses.

Figure 1. Map of Washington showing the extent of existing and planned publicly available lidar data. Information source: United States Interagency Elevation Inventory, June 2014, updated annually. Quality level 2 or better data meet 3DEP requierments. See table 1 for quality level information.

The following examples highlight how 3DEP data can support business uses in Washington: (1) Enhanced elevation data could enable State, regional, and local governments to more effectively implement natural resources conservation practices while providing additional cost savings to the public. If lidar data were available nationally, public and private organizations would expand their use of lidar for planning and site-level engineering to reduce field work for conservation projects such as grade stabilization, ponds, grassed waterways, pipelines, terracing, and wetland restoration. (2) Lidar data provide high-quality terrain information as input for more accurate and less expensive hydrologic and hydraulic modeling for flood studies; design of structures such as bridges and culverts to accommodate runoff and flooding from large rain events (fig. 2); retention dam design, dam breach studies, and stormwater management and engineering. Lidar data also aid the identification of vulnerable properties within a floodplain, facilitating better floodplainmanagement decisions and education of the public on true flood risks. Dynamic 3D models that include lidar data provide more detailed information on the potential effects of flooding.

References Cited

Dewberry, 2011, Final report of the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (revised 2012): Fairfax, Va., Dewberry, 84 p. plus appendixes, http://www.dewberry.com/Consultants/GeospatialMapping/FinalReport-NationalEnhanced ElevationAssessment.

Snyder, G.I., 2012a, National Enhanced Elevation Assessment at a glance: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2012–3088, 2 p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3088/.

Snyder, G.I., 2012b, The 3D Elevation Program—Summary of program direction: U.S. Geological Survey

pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2012/3089/.

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