3DEP in Pennsylvania by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $7.50 million 

Estimated total cost $15.13 million

Payback 2.0 years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$9.63 million

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2015–3019 

March 2015

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for Pennsylvania

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 Commonwealth 

of Pennsylvania, elevation data are critical 

for natural resources conservation (including the effects of drilling for oil and natural 

gas), agriculture and precision farming, 

flood risk management, infrastructure and 

construction management, water supply and 

quality, geologic resource assessment and 

hazard 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, and local agencies work in 

partnership to replace data that are older and 

of lower quality. A joint goal of Commonwealth and Federal partners is to provide a 

temporal and density refresh of the current 

statewide coverage in order to support existing and emerging applications enabled by 

improved 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 elevation 

data, responds to the growing need for highquality topographic data and a wide range 

of other 3D representations of the Nation’s 

natural and constructed features.

3D Elevation Program Benefits 

for Pennsylvania

The top 10 Pennsylvania business uses 

for 3D elevation data, which are based on 

the estimated annual conservative benefits 

of the 3DEP initiative, are shown in table 2. 

The NEEA survey respondents in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania estimated that 

the national 3DEP initiative would result in 

at least $7.5 million in new benefits annually 

to the Commonwealth. The cost for such a 

program in Pennsylvania is approximately 

$15 million, resulting in a payback period 

of 2.0 years and a benefit/cost ratio of 4.0 to 

1 over an 8-year period. Because monetary 

estimates were not provided for all reported 

benefits, the total benefits of the 3DEP to 

Pennsylvania are likely much higher. On the 

basis of the NEEA survey results, all levels 

of government and many organizations in 

Pennsylvania could benefit from access to 

statewide high-resolution elevation data.

For Pennsylvania, approximately 

82 percent of the identified business use 

requirements will be met in natural resources 

conservation, agriculture and precision 

farming, and flood risk management uses, 

as shown in table 2. The status of publicly 

available lidar data in Pennsylvania is shown 

in figure 1. By enhancing coordination in 

Pennsylvania, it may be possible to realize 

more than the cited conservative benefits and 

attain the higher potential benefits for many 

business uses.

The following examples highlight how 

3DEP data can support business uses in Pennsylvania: (1) Dense vegetation and woodland 

can obscure hazardous areas. Lidar digital terrain (bare earth) models can be used to locate 

3D Elevation Program

3DEP is a national program managed 

by the USGS to acquire high-resolution 

elevation data. The initiative is backed by a 

comprehensive assessment of requirements 

(Dewberry, 2011) and is in the early stages 

of implementation. 3DEP will improve 

data accuracy and provide more current 

data than is available in the National 

Elevation Dataset (NED). The goal of this 

high-priority cooperative program is to 

be operational by early 2015, and to have 

complete coverage of the United States 

by the end of 2022, depending on funding 

and partnerships. 3DEP can conservatively 

provide new benefits of $1.2 billion/year 

and has the potential to generate $13 billion/year in new benefits through improved 

government services, reductions in crop 

and homeowner losses resulting from 

floods, more efficient routing of vehicles, 

and a host of other government, corporate, 

and citizen activities (Dewberry, 2011). A 

shared, common elevation dataset would 

foster cooperation and improve decisionmaking among all levels of government and 

other stakeholders.

Benefits of a Funded National Program

• Economy of scale—Acquisition of 

data covering larger areas reduces 

costs by 25 percent.

• A systematic plan—Acquisition of 

data at a higher quality level reduces 

the cost of “buying up” to the highest 

levels needed by State and local 

governments.

• Higher quality data and national 

coverage—Ensure consistency for 

applications that span State and watershed boundaries and meet more needs, 

which results in increased benefits 

to citizens.

• Increase in Federal agency contributions—Reduces State and local partner 

contributions.

• Acquisition assistance—Provided 

through readily available contracts and 

published acquisition specifications.

Figure 1. Map of Pennsylvania 

showing publicly available lidar data. 

Information source is the United States 

Interagency Elevation Inventory, 

October 2014 (http://coast.noaa.gov/

inventory/?redirect=301ocm#), which is 

updated annually. Quality level 2 or better 

data meet 3DEP requirements. See table 1 

for quality level information. 

EXPLANATION

Quality level 2 or better data

Quality level 3

data

0 50

0 40
Next Steps for Implementing 3DEP

Accomplishing the 3DEP initiative’s 

goal of national coverage in 8 years depends 

on the following factors:

• Increased partnerships among Federal, 

State, Tribal, and local governments. 

• Partnerships that acquire elevation data 

to the program’s specifications across 

larger project areas.

• Increased communication about and 

awareness of the program’s benefits 

and goals.

• Support for the program from government and other stakeholders.

For Further Information:

Director

USGS National Geospatial Program

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 511

Reston, VA 20192

Email: 3DEP@usgs.gov

Craig A. Neidig 

The National Map Liaison

11 Dunbar Street 

Charleston, WV 25301

Email: cneidig@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

and assess abandoned mine lands, landscape 

changes related to oil and natural gas drilling, 

active landslides and preexisting landslides 

that are susceptible to reactivation (fig. 2), and 

to detect sinkhole features in karst areas that 

have not been identified in previous elevation 

programs. These lidar-derived data support 

public and environmental safety programs 

and the site-selection process for industry 

and commerce. (2) Millions of dollars are 

saved throughout Pennsylvania because many 

governmental units, academia, and private 

organizations use the PAMAP (http://www.

dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/pamap/index.aspx) 

imagery, lidar, and other data and information for various applications across the State 

related to natural resource extraction. This 

readily available statewide data and information help to make informed decisions for 

project planning, permitting, and design, and 

for environmental assessment, code enforcement, and emergency response. (3) Lidar data 

provide high-quality terrain information as 

input for more accurate and cost-effective 

flood studies, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, design of structures (bridges, culverts, 

dams) to better accommodate runoff from 

large rain events, and storm and wastewater 

management and engineering. Lidar data 

also aid in improved flood inundation models 

that facilitate better floodplain-management 

decisions, such as early warnings from the 

Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning 

System (http://www.susquehannafloodforecasting.org/mapping-data.html) and help to 

educate the public on flood risks.

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-NationalEnhancedElevation

Assessment.

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 

Fact Sheet 2012–3089, 2 p., http://

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

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20153019

3D Elevation Program—Continued

The USGS and its partners will 

acquire quality level 2 or better (table 1) 

3D lidar data over the conterminous United 

States, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories. 

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar 

(ifsar) data are being collected at quality 

level 5 (table 1) in Alaska. The data will 

be acquired over an 8-year period and 

will be made available to the public. By 

using this acquisition scenario a number of 

high-quality elevation-data products can be 

created to serve a wide range of business 

uses in government and the private sector.

Figure 2. Comparison of an orthophoto image (A) and a lidar-derived image (B) showing the 

slope of a geologically old but still active landslide in Clinton County, Pennsylvania. The lidar 

image shows both bedrock and colluvial soil movement. Colors used are from the standard 

elevation ramp. Courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, 

Pennsylvania Geological Survey. 

Table 2. Conservative benefits estimates for the top 10 business uses of the proposed

3DEP data identified in the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment for Pennsylvania

 (Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(millions)

1 Natural resources conservation $2.28

2 Agriculture and precision farming 2.02

3 Flood risk management 1.85

4 Infrastructure and construction management 0.35

5 Water supply and quality 0.31

6 Forest resources management 0.31

7 Aviation navigation and safety 0.16

8 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 0.14

9 Coastal zone management 0.03

10 Renewable energy resources 0.02

Other 0.03

Total 7.50

Table 1. Data quality levels and related 

accuracies for the 3D Elevation Program 

(3DEP) initiative are provided on page 6 in 

USGS Circular 1399 (http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/

cir1399 ). These data quality parameters for 

the 3DEP initiative approximate those used in 

the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment 

(Dewberry, 2011).

[RMSE(z), root mean square error in the z

(elevation) dimension; n/a, not applicable]

Quality 

level

Nominal pulse 

spacing

(meters)

Vertical error 

as RMSE(z)

(centimeters)

1 0.35 10

2 0.7 10

3 2.0 20

4 n/a 139

5 n/a 185

A B