3DEP in Delaware by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $680 thousand 

Estimated total cost $671 thousand

Payback 1.0 year

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$427 thousand

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2015–3031

May 2015

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for Delaware

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 Delaware, 

elevation data are critical for agriculture and 

precision farming, river and stream resource 

management, natural resources conservation, 

flood risk management, coastal zone 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 publicly available 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 Delaware

The top 10 Delaware 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 Delaware estimated that the national 3DEP initiative would result in at least $680 thousand in 

new benefits annually to the State. The cost 

for such a program in Delaware is approximately $671 thousand, resulting in a payback 

period of 1.0 year and a benefit/cost ratio 

of 8.1 to 1 over an 8-year period. Because 

monetary estimates were not provided for 

all reported benefits, the total benefits of the 

3DEP to Delaware are likely much higher. 

On the basis of the NEEA survey results, all 

levels of government and many organizations 

in Delaware could benefit from access to 

statewide high-resolution elevation data.

For Delaware, approximately 80 percent 

of the identified business use requirements 

will be met in agriculture and precision farming, river and stream resource management, 

natural resources conservation, and flood 

risk management uses, as shown in table 2. 

The status of publicly available lidar data 

in Delaware is shown in figure 1. The most 

recent lidar data for Delaware were collected 

for all three counties in early 2014, paid 

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 highpriority cooperative program is 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 Delaware showing 

publicly available lidar data. Information 

source is the United States Interagency 

Elevation Inventory, June 2014 (http://coast.

noaa.gov/inventory/?redirect=301ocm#), 

which is updated annually. Quality level 2 or 

better lidar data meet 3DEP requirements. 

See table 1 for quality level information. 

EXPLANATION

Quality level 2 

or better data

0 10 Kilometers

0 10 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:

Michael A. Tischler, Director

USGS National Geospatial Program

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 511

Reston, VA 20192

Email: 3DEP@usgs.gov

Roger A. Barlow 

The National Map Liaison

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 511

Reston, VA 20192

Email: rbarlow@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

for by Hurricane Sandy Relief funds. By 

enhancing coordination between 3DEP and 

various government and private organizations 

in Delaware, 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 

Delaware: (1) The availability of more accurate statewide elevation data would reduce 

onsite data-collection costs and the amount 

of time required to complete some phases 

of flood risk projects, thereby improving 

the quality of the analyses and study results. 

Comprehensive lidar coverage enables 

detailed modeling of the overflow from 

streams and other water bodies as a result of 

large storm events and overland coastal storm 

surges (fig. 2). The Delaware Coastal Flood 

Monitoring System (http://coastal-flood.

udel.edu/) relies on the land surface digital 

elevation model to depict the extent and 

severity of real-time flood inundation due to 

storm surge within local communities. With 

an enhanced ability to predict surface-water 

movement along high-risk coastal areas, 

communities and agencies have the ability 

to design improved evacuation routes to 

better prepare and protect the public should a 

disaster strike. (2) Approximately 41 percent 

of the land area of Delaware is devoted to 

agricultural uses. Enhanced elevation data can 

provide a more accurate depiction of terrain 

and dramatically 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.

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/fs20153031

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. Cropped 

screenshot of the Delaware 

Coastal Flood Monitoring 

System (http://coastalflood.udel.edu/), which is a 

Web-based tool and alert 

system designed to provide 

emergency managers, 

planners, and others the 

information needed regarding 

impending coastal events. 

Image courtesy of Delaware 

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 Delaware

 (Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(thousands)

1 Agriculture and precision farming $209.3

2 River and stream resource management 148.7

3 Natural resources conservation 93.7

4 Flood risk management 92.7

5 Coastal zone management 42.8

6 Sea level rise and subsidence 42.3

7 Infrastructure and construction management 18.0

8 Water supply and quality 9.5

9 Aviation navigation and safety 7.2

10 Forest resources management 6.6

Other 8.9

Total 679.7

Table 1. Data quality levels and related 

accuracies for the 3D Elevation Program 

(3DEP) initiative as 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 1.4 20

4 n/a 139

5 n/a 185