3DEP in Georgia by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $8.56 million 

Estimated total cost $19.69 million

Payback 2.3 years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$12.53 million

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2014–3058

August 2014

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for Georgia

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 Georgia, 

elevation data are critical for infrastructure 

and construction management, natural 

resources conservation, flood risk management, agriculture and precision farming, 

forest resources management, water supply 

and quality, 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 (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 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 Georgia

The top 10 Georgia 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 State of 

Georgia estimated that the national 3DEP initiative would result in at least $8.56 million in 

new benefits annually to the State. The cost for 

such a program in Georgia is approximately

$19.6 million, resulting in a payback period 

of 2.3 years and a benefit/cost ratio of 3.5 to 

1 over an 8-year period. Because monetary 

estimates were not provided for all reported 

benefits, the total benefits of the 3DEP to 

Georgia are likely much higher. On the basis 

of the NEEA survey results, all levels of government and many organizations in Georgia 

could benefit from access to statewide highresolution elevation data.

For Georgia, approximately 72 percent 

of the identified business use requirements 

will be met in infrastructure and construction 

management, natural resources conservation, 

and flood risk management uses, as shown 

in table 2. The status of publicly available 

lidar data in Georgia is shown in figure 1. By 

enhancing coordination between 3DEP and 

various government and private organizations 

in Georgia, it may be possible to realize 

more than the cited conservative benefits and 

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 January 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 Georgia showing the 

extent of existing and planned publicly 

available lidar data. Information source: 

United States Interagency Elevation 

Inventory, June 2014, updated annually. 

No data that meet 3DEP requirements 

for quality level 2 or better are publicly 

available for Georgia. See table 1 for quality 

level information. 

EXPLANATION

Quality level 3

data

Quality level 4

or lower data

No publicly available

lidar data

0 40 Kilometers

0 20 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

Gary L. Merrill, 

 USGS Geospatial Liaison

Stephenson Center, Suite 129

720 Gracern Road 

Columbia, SC 29210

Email: glmerrill@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

attain the higher potential benefits for many 

business uses.

 The following examples highlight 

how 3DEP data can support business uses in 

Georgia: (1) Enhanced elevation data are a 

key component of Georgia’s Flood Mapping, 

Assessment and Planning program (http://

www.georgiadfirm.com/default.htm) and the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 

Risk MAP program. These coordinated 

programs deliver quality data that increase 

public awareness and lead to mitigation 

actions that reduce risk to life and property 

and address gaps in flood hazard data used for 

risk assessment and floodplain management. 

(2) Stormwater runoff carries pollutants such 

as oil and grease, lawn fertilizers, chemicals, 

pet waste, litter, and other contaminants into 

the State’s waterways. Enhanced elevation 

data can be used to improve water quality by 

modeling soil erosion and runoff into streams 

and initiating actions to decrease the amount 

of sediment and nutrients delivered to lakes 

and rivers (fig. 2). Hydrologic modeling can 

identify specific locations within a watershed 

that can be used to temporarily store runoff 

to decrease peak flows and the amount 

of sediment and nutrient runoff. In urban 

environments, the higher quality elevation 

data support preservation and restoration 

activities along wetlands and other protected 

waterways, the determination of impervious 

surface area for stormwater master planning, 

and surface-water accumulation models for 

systems rehabilitation.

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/fs20143058

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. Thousands of stream miles 

throughout Georgia are impacted by 

stormwater runoff, which can carry harmful 

pollutants into waterways. Enhanced elevation 

data support hydrologic models that can be 

used to identify specific locations within the 

watershed that can temporarily store runoff 

to decrease peak flows and the amount of 

sediment and nutrient runoff. The tributary 

shown in the photograph is contributing 

sediment and nutrient runoff to a much clearer, 

large river, the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta, 

Georgia. U.S. Geological Survey photograph.

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

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

Georgia (Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(millions)

1 Infrastructure and construction management $2.23

2 Natural resources conservation 2.08

3 Flood risk management 1.84

4 Agriculture and precision farming 1.20

5 Forest resources management 0.46

6 Water supply and quality 0.29

7 Aviation navigation and safety 0.15

8 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 0.11

9 Coastal zone management 0.08

10 Sea level rise and subsidence 0.06

Other 0.06

Total 8.56

Table 1. Data quality levels and related 

accuracies for the 3D Elevation Program 

(3DEP) initiative. 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