3DEP in Rhode Island by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $179 thousand 

Estimated total cost $363 thousand

Payback 2.0  years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$231 thousand

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2013–3040

August 2013

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for Rhode Island

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 Rhode Island, elevation 

data are critical for flood risk management, natural resources conservation, 

coastal zone management, sea level rise 

and subsidence, agriculture and precision farming, and other business uses. 

Today, high-quality light detection and 

ranging (lidar) data are the sources for 

creating elevation models and other 

elevation datasets. Federal, State, and 

local agencies work in partnership to (1) 

replace data, on a national basis, that are 

(on average) 30 years old 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 new 

3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative 

(Snyder, 2012a,b), managed by the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS), responds to 

the growing need for high-quality topographic data and a wide range of other 

three-dimensional representations of the 

Nation’s natural and constructed features. 

3D Elevation Program Benefits for 

Rhode Island

The top 10 Rhode Island business 

uses for 3D elevation data, which are 

based on the estimated annual benefits 

of the 3DEP initiative, are shown in 

table 1. The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (NEEA; Dewberry, 

2011) survey respondents in the State of 

Rhode Island estimated that the national 

3DEP initiative would result in at least 

$178 thousand in new benefits annually 

to the State. The cost for such a program 

in Rhode Island is approximately 

$363 thousand, resulting in a payback 

period of 2.0 years and a benefit-to-cost 

ratio of 3.9 to 1 over an 8-year period. 

Because monetary estimates were not 

provided for all reported benefits, the 

total benefits of the 3DEP to Rhode 

Island are likely much higher. On the 

basis of the NEEA survey results, all 

levels of government and many organizations in Rhode Island could benefit from 

access to statewide high-resolution elevation data.

The NEEA evaluated multiple data 

collection programs to determine the 

optimal data quality and data replacement 

cycle relative to cost to meet the stated 

needs. For Rhode Island, approximately 

80 percent of the total benefits are realized in flood risk management, natural 

resources conservation, coastal management, and sea level rise and subsidence 

uses alone, as shown in table 1. The 

status of publicly available lidar data in 

Rhode Island is shown in figure 1. By 

enhancing coordination between the 

3DEP and the various government and 

3D Elevation Program

3DEP is a national program managed by the USGS to acquire highresolution 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 January 2015 and to have complete 

coverage of the United States by 2022, 

depending on funding and partnerships. 

The new program 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). 

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 Rhode Island showing 

the areal extent and quality level of 

planned and existing publicly available 

light detection and ranging (lidar) data 

in November 2012. 3DEP data (quality 

level 2 or better) are not publicly 

available for Rhode Island. See table 2 

for quality levels.

EXPLANATION

Quality level 3

data

0 10 Kilometers 5

0 4 8 Miles
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, 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 from government and other

stakeholders and users

and bathymetric elevation data to keep 

current with geomorphological changes 

along the shoreline that are predicted to 

occur more frequently with storms of 

increasing intensity, periodicity, 

and duration.

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-Nation

alEnhancedElevationAssessment.

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/.

private organizations in Rhode Island, it 

may be possible to meet a higher percentage of the needs.

The following are examples of how 

3DEP data can support business needs 

in Rhode Island: (1) The Town of South 

Kingston, which is a well-established 

user of GIS, is anticipating major cost 

savings by reducing expensive field work 

with lidar data and products. On a statewide basis, analysis of complete watersheds improves stormwater response and 

greatly benefits the public by helping 

address flood risk management. The 

increased availability of accurate imagery, better parcel mapping, and improved 

planimetric data all improve the customer 

experience. (2) Even before Hurricane 

Sandy, Rhode Island communities were 

engaged in detailed vulnerability planning exercises pertaining to natural 

resources (fig. 2), transportation infrastructure, buildings, and cultural assets 

that are at risk from sea level rise and 

storm surge. This modeling requires 

up-to-date high-resolution topographic 

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

For Further Information:

Mark DeMulder, Director, 

National Geospatial Program

U.S. Geological Survey

511 National Center

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive

Reston, VA 20192

Email: mdemulder@usgs.gov

Dan Walters, USGS Geospatial Liaison

U.S. Geological Survey

196 Whitten Road

Augusta, ME 04330

Email: danwalters@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

3D Elevation Program—Continued

The USGS and its partners will acquire 

quality level 2 or better (table 2) threedimensional 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 2) in Alaska. The data will be acquired 

over an 8-year period and will be made available to the public. A number of high-quality 

elevation-data products will be created to 

serve a wide range of business needs in government and the private sector.

Figure 2. Enhanced elevation data aids 

natural resources conservation. The 

long-term sustainability of marsh habitats 

depends on identifying and protecting 

areas where marshes can move upland 

as sea level rises, as well as identifying 

barriers to that movement. Photograph by 

Edwin D. Booth; used with permission.

Table 1. Conservative benefits for the top 10 business uses of the proposed 3DEP 

data identified in the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment for Rhode Island 

(Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(thousands)

1 Flood risk management $52.95

2 Natural resources conservation 42.41

3 Coastal zone management 23.48

4 Sea level rise and subsidence 23.20

5 Agriculture and precision farming 11.03

6 Infrastructure and construction management 9.28

7 Forest resources management 6.27

8 Aviation navigation and safety 5.80

9 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 1.96

10 Homeland security, law enforcement, and disaster response 1.31

Other 0.87

Total 178.56

Table 2. Data quality levels used in the 

National Enhanced Elevation Assessment.

[≤, less than or equal to]

Quality 

level

Nominal pulse 

spacing

(meters)

Vertical 

accuracy 

(centimeters)

1 0.35 9.25

2 0.7 9.25

3 1–2 ≤18.5

4 5 46–139

5 5 93–185