Printed on recycled paper

The 3D Elevation Program—Precision Agriculture and

Other Farm Practices

Agricultural Productivity and High-Quality Terrain Information

A founding motto of the Natural 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), 

originally the Soil Conservation Service 

(SCS), explains that “If we take care of the 

land, it will take care of us.” Digital elevation models (DEMs; see fig. 1) are derived 

from light detection and ranging (lidar) 

data and can be processed to derive values 

such as slope angle, aspect, and topographic 

curvature. These three measurements are the 

principal parameters of the NRCS LidarEnhanced Soil Survey (LESS) model, which 

improves the precision of soil surveys, by 

more accurately displaying the slopes and 

soils patterns, while increasing the objectivity 

and science in line placement. As combined 

resources, DEMs, LESS model outputs, and 

similar derived datasets are essential for 

conserving soil, wetlands, and other natural 

resources managed and overseen by the 

NRCS and other Federal and State agencies.

One of the largest privately held food 

and agribusiness companies in the Nation, 

J.R. Simplot assists small, medium, and large 

farms in carrying out production agriculture, 

including precision agriculture. J.R. Simplot 

relies on lidar for precision agriculture 

applications that improve terrain characterization for site-specific applications of seed, 

fertilizer, lime, pesticides, and water, which 

leads to increased farm yields, improved 

resource efficiency, and reduced chemical use. 

Knowledge of relevant terrain information—

soil type, soil wetness, drainage, and 

topographic variations within farm fields 

(slope, aspect, and curvature)—can improve 

crop yields. Awareness of these characteristics gives farms the opportunity to devise 

site-specific methods (fig. 2). Traditional, 

uniform treatment of crops such as wheat, 

corn, soybean, and cotton causes excessive 

costs in the form of fertilizers, pesticides, 

and herbicides, all of which can lead to 

excessive pollutant runoff. 

The agriculture industry, including 

farmers who rely on advanced technologies, 

increasingly use lidar data for crop management 

to enhance agricultural productivity. Annually, 

the combination of greater yields and reduced 

crop losses is estimated to increase revenue by 

$2 billion for America’s farmers when terrain 

data derived from lidar are made available for 

all high-quality croplands. Additionally, the 

NRCS estimates that the value of improved 

services provided to farmers through its farm 

assistance program would be $79 million annually if lidar-derived DEMs are made available 

for all farmlands (Dewberry, 2012).

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) 

(Sugarbaker and others, 2014; see sidebar) 

provides the programmatic infrastructure to 

generate and supply superior terrain data to 

the agriculture industry, thereby reducing 

costs and risks, which would allow farms to 

refine agricultural practices and produce crops 

more efficiently. The 3DEP infrastructure 

uses data acquisition partnerships that 

leverage funding; develop contracts with 

experienced private mapping firms; capitalize 

on technical expertise; maintain first-tier 

lidar data standards and specifications; and, 

most importantly, provide public access to 

high-quality 3D elevation data. 

Uses of 3D Elevation Data for 

Agriculture

Uses of 3D elevation data in agriculture 

investments (Dewberry, 2012) include:

• Prescription application of seed, fertilizer, 

water, pesticides, and herbicides

• Farm pond design

• Farm contour design

• Tribal, State, and local government 

farmland program management

3D Elevation Program (3DEP)

The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is 

a national program managed by the USGS 

to acquire high-resolution elevation data 

(Sugarbaker and others, 2014). It produces 

point clouds, bare-earth digital elevation 

models (DEMs), and other products.

The 3DEP is backed by a comprehensive 

assessment of lidar, interferometric synthetic 

aperture radar (IfSAR), and related elevation 

data requirements (Dewberry, 2012) and is 

now an operational program. The goal of this 

high-priority cooperative program is to have 

complete coverage of quality level 2 (QL2)

lidar data for the conterminous United States, 

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

data for Alaska, by the end of 2023.

Reduced Acquisition Costs and Risks

A funded national program will provide:

• Economy of scale by acquiring data for 

larger areas and reducing acquisition costs 

by 25 percent.

• Predictable, efficient, and flexible Federal

investments that reduce costs for and allow 

better planning by Federal, State, Tribal, 

U.S. territorial, and local government 

partners, including the option of “buying 

up” to acquire higher quality data.

• Consistent, high-quality, national coverage

that (1) provides data ready for applications 

that span project, jurisdictional, and watershed boundaries, (2) meets multiple needs, 

and (3) increases benefits to citizens.

• Simpler data acquisition that provides 

contracts, published data-acquisition 

specifications, and specialized quality 

assurance and information technology 

expertise. Partners reduce their risks and 

can concentrate on their business activities.

3DEP can conservatively provide new 

benefits of $690 million per year and has the 

potential to generate $13 billion per year in 

new benefits through applications that span 

the economy (Dewberry, 2012). The shared 

lidar, IfSAR, and derived elevation datasets 

would foster cooperation and improve decisionmaking among all levels of government 

and other stakeholders.

High-Quality Data

For the conterminous United States, 

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

and its partners acquire QL2 or better lidar 

data. The QL2 data have a minimum nominal 

pulse spacing of 0.7 meters and a vertical error 

Image courtesy of Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Figure 1. The Natural Resources Conservation 

Service uses lidar to provide assistance to farmers 

for farm pond and contour farming practice design. 

This lidar-derived digital elevation model (DEM) 

shows field contours and several farm ponds. 

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2016–3088

December 2016
• Farmland suitability analysis

• Drainage analysis

• Conservation planning

• Mapping of floodplains, cultural resources, 

wetlands, grasslands, forests, and 

wildlife habitat

Benefits of 3D Elevation Data 

The benefits (table 1) realized by the 

agriculture industry, through improved 

cropland management and farming practices, 

can include:

• Increased crop yield

• Decreased crop losses due to flooding or 

poor site design

• Improved compliance for the application 

of regulated chemicals

• Reduced design costs for farm ponds and 

other farm infrastructure

• Conservation of critical natural resources 

and habitats

Maximize Benefits and 

Minimize Risks

3DEP presents opportunities for users to 

maximize the benefits and minimize the risks 

associated with mapping terrain. Data that meet 

the needs of the user’s project may already be 

available through 3DEP. As such, users may 

benefit by taking advantage of previously 

derived product data, or the standardized point 

cloud, to ease the learning curve associated 

with processing raw lidar data. The user can 

then begin project work immediately. 

When data must be acquired, 3DEP offers:

• Reduced unit collection costs by pooling funding with other partners, resulting in an economy

of scale that 3DEP coordination provides.

• Access to vetted, qualified, and experienced 

contract firms that acquire and process 

aerial lidar data.

• USGS programmatic infrastructure that 

issues and manages data acquisition 

contracts, and inspects, accepts, and distributes point cloud and derived data products.

• Opportunities to “buy up” to higher quality 

data for specialized applications.

• Opportunities to receive direct 3DEP costshare funding to acquire lidar data

References Cited

Dewberry, 2012, Final report of the National 

Enhanced Elevation Assessment (revised 2012): 

Fairfax, Va., Dewberry, 84 p. plus appendixes, 

accessed October 5, 2016, at http://www.dewberry.com/Consultants/GeospatialMapping/Final

Report-NationalEnhancedElevationAssessment.

Sugarbaker, L.J., Constance, E.W., Heidemann, H.K., 

Jason, A.L., Lukas, Vicki, Saghy, D.L., and 

Stoker, J.M., 2014, The 3D Elevation Program 

initiative—A call for action: U.S. Geological Survey

Circular 1399, 35 p., accessed October 5, 2016, 

at http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1399/.

3D Elevation Program—Continued

of 10 centimeters, measured as root mean 

square error in the elevation (z) dimension 

(RMSEz). Statewide for Alaska, quality level 

5 IfSAR data are acquired that have a vertical 

error of 185 centimeters RMSE z.

The data must have been acquired 

during the previous eight years. For more 

information see the Lidar Base Specification 

available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/11b4/.

Point Cloud and Derived Products

Lidar data products include the all-return 

classified point clouds and derived bare-earth 

DEMs. Each DEM dataset is identified by 

its horizontal resolution and is produced to 

a consistent set of specifications. All DEMs 

represent the topographic surface of the 

Earth and contain flattened water surfaces. 

Nationally seamless DEMs are produced 

by blending only the highest quality project 

data into a continuous terrain surface for the 

United States, and are published at resolutions 

of 1/3 arc-second, 1 arc-second, and 2 arcseconds. The standard 1-meter DEM dataset 

is seamless within collection projects but not 

across projects.

IfSAR data in Alaska include digital 

surface models, orthorectified intensity images,

and 5-meter-resolution hydro-flattened DEMs.

The USGS integrates the elevation model 

data into its national elevation data coverage, 

as a component of The National Map. All 

3DEP products to include an elevation-point 

query service and bulk-point query service 

are components of The National Map. Data 

are available, free of charge and without use 

restrictions. To download 3DEP products visit 

http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/.

Ways to Participate

Partners may contribute funds toward 

data acquisition projects managed by the 

USGS, or they may receive cooperative funds 

to manage their own acquisition projects. The 

Broad Agency Announcement process is the 

primary mechanism used to establish agreements between partners. For more information

see the 3DEP Web site at http://nationalmap.gov/

3DEP/index.html. Organizations may also 

access the geospatial products and services 

contracts and quality control services 

managed by the USGS to acquire 3DEP data. 

Organizations may contribute existing elevation data that meet 3DEP specifications. More 

information about using USGS contracts or 

about other ways to contribute is available

by request through http://nationalmap.gov/

3DEP/3dep_feedback.html.

Learn More About 3DEP

Please send questions to:

Michael A. Tischler, Director

USGS National Geospatial Program

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 511

Reston, VA 20192

Email: 3DEP@usgs.gov ISSN 2327-6916 (print)

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)

Table 1. Conservative annual national benefits 

of 3DEP data related to precision agriculture, 

other farm practices, and associated business 

uses (derived from Dewberry, 2012).

Business use

Conservative

annual benefit

(million

dollars)

Agriculture and precision farming 122

Natural resources conservation 159

Forest resources management 44

River and stream resource 

management

38

Wildlife and habitat management 2

Total 365

Figure 2. The image on the

lower left shows field elevations, 

as determined by lidar survey, 

and the image on the lower right 

shows farm yield. The top photograph shows a tractor equipped 

with a Global Positioning System 

(GPS) and precision agriculture 

equipment, allowing for the 

precise application of seeds 

and chemicals. Images courtesy 

of J.R. Simplot Company. Any use 

of trade, firm, or product names is 

for descriptive purposes only and 

does not imply endorsement by 

the U.S. Government.

By Larry J. Sugarbaker and William J. Carswell, Jr. http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20163088