3DEP in Nebraska by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $11.10 million 

Estimated total cost $25.84 million

Payback 2.3 years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$16.44 million

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2014–3112 

January 2015

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for Nebraska

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 Nebraska, 

elevation data are critical for agriculture and 

precision farming, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, infrastructure 

and construction management, 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, 

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 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 Nebraska

The top 10 Nebraska 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 report analyses for the State of 

Nebraska estimated that the national 3DEP 

initiative would result in at least $11.1 million 

in new benefits annually to the State. The cost 

for such a program in Nebraska is approximately $26 million, resulting in a payback 

period of 2.3 years and a benefit/cost ratio 

of 3.4 to 1 over an 8-year period. Because 

monetary estimates were not provided for 

all reported benefits, the total benefits of the 

3DEP to Nebraska are likely much higher. 

On the basis of the NEEA survey results, all 

levels of government and many organizations 

in Nebraska could benefit from access to 

statewide high-resolution elevation data.

For Nebraska, approximately 86 percent 

of the identified business use requirements 

will be met in agriculture and precision farming and natural resources conservation uses, 

as shown in table 2. The status of publicly 

available lidar data in Nebraska is shown in 

figure 1. By enhancing coordination between 

3DEP and various government and private 

organizations in Nebraska, 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 Nebraska: (1) Approximately 46 percent 

of the land area of Nebraska is devoted 

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 Nebraska showing the 

extent of existing and planned 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

No publicly

available

lidar data

0 80 Kilometers

0 60 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, 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

James Langtry, 

 The National Map Liaison

5231 South 19th Street

Lincoln, NE 68512

Email: jlangtry@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

to cropland. Enhanced elevation data can 

provide a more accurate depiction of terrain 

and significantly improve cropland precision 

farming activities, which helps improve crop 

yields, prevent soil degradation, and reduce 

agricultural chemical runoff—factors that 

help farmers realize a larger return on their 

investments. (2) Lidar data provide highquality 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; 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. (3) Enhanced 

elevation data can be used to improve water 

quality by hydrologic modeling of watersheds, catchment areas, and wetlands for 

wellhead protection and management of 

land to assess and mitigate potential risks 

posed to water quality. Hydrologic modeling 

using lidar-derived topography can identify 

specific locations within the watershed that 

can be used to temporarily store runoff 

to decrease peak flows and the amount of 

sediment and nutrient runoff (fig. 2). Higher 

quality elevation data support preservation 

and restoration activities along wetlands and 

other protected waterways and surface-water 

accumulation models for the rehabilitation of 

hydrologic systems.

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/fs20143112

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. Filter strips are used in 

conjunction with terraces in Sarpy 

County, Nebraska, to help keep 

sediment and other contaminants from 

migrating into adjacent waterways. 

Photograph courtesy of U.S. Department 

of Agriculture—Natural Resources 

Conservation Service.

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

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

 (Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(millions)

1 Agriculture and precision farming $6.34

2 Natural resources conservation 3.18

3 Flood risk management 0.63

4 Infrastructure and construction management 0.46

5 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 0.14

6 Water supply and quality 0.14

7 Aviation navigation and safety 0.10

8 Renewable energy resources 0.10

9 River and stream resource management 0.01

10 Homeland security, law enforcement, and disaster response 0.00

Other 0.00

Total 11.10

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