3DEP in Louisiana by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $6.96 million 

Estimated total cost $15.64 million

Payback 2.2 years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$13.60 million

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2014–3037

April 2014

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for Louisiana

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 Louisiana,

elevation data are critical for flood risk 

management, natural resources conservation, 

agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction 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, 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 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 Louisiana

The top 10 Louisiana 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 

Louisiana estimated that the national 3DEP 

initiative would result in at least $6.96 million 

in new benefits annually to the State. The cost 

for such a program in Louisiana is approximately $15.6 million, resulting in a payback 

period of 2.2 years and a benefit/cost ratio 

of 3.6 to 1 over an 8-year period. Because 

monetary estimates were not provided for all 

reported benefits, the total benefits of the 3DEP 

to Louisiana are likely much higher. On the 

basis of the NEEA survey results, all levels of 

government and many organizations in Louisiana could benefit from access to statewide 

high-resolution elevation data.

For Louisiana, approximately 82 percent 

of the identified business use requirements 

will be met in flood risk management, natural 

resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, and infrastructure and construction management uses, as shown in table 2. 

The status of publicly available lidar data in 

Louisiana is shown in figure 1. By enhancing coordination between 3DEP and various 

government and private organizations in 

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 Louisiana showing the 

extent of existing and planned publicly 

available lidar data. Information source: 

United States Interagency Elevation Inventory, 

August 2013, updated annually. No data that 

meet 3DEP requirements for quality level 2 or 

better are publicly available in Louisiana. See 

table 1 for quality level information.

EXPLANATION

Quality level 3 data

Quality level 4

or lower data

No publicly available

lidar data

0 50 Kilometers

0 40 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:

Mark DeMulder, Director, 

USGS National Geospatial Program

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 511

Reston, VA 20192

Email: mdemulder@usgs.gov

Christopher Cretini, 

 USGS Geospatial Liaison

700 Cajundome Blvd

Lafayette, LA 70506

Email: cretinic@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

Louisiana, 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 Louisiana: (1) Flood protection in southern Louisiana 

is primarily dependent on earthen levees; 

following Hurricane Katrina, the State’s levee 

system received substantial scrutiny. Recent 

State mandates require levee districts and 

parish levee managers to survey and assess the 

levee system every 3 to 5 years and perform 

a visual inspection every year. A recent study 

in the Atchafalaya River basin demonstrated 

that high-resolution digital elevation models 

derived from airborne lidar surveys can be 

used to obtain several levee geometric characteristics: levee crest elevation, crown width, 

levee total width, volume, side slope angles, 

and full width at half maximum elevation. 

(2) The vulnerability of human populations 

and infrastructure to projected increases in sea 

level is a critical area of uncertainty for communities in the extremely low-lying and flat 

northern Gulf of Mexico coastal zone. Because 

elevation is the primary factor that determines 

the vulnerability of coastal regions to inundation from sea-level rise, high-resolution, accurate digital elevation models that rely heavily 

on airborne lidar are needed. A recent study 

designated the coastal zone areas vulnerable to 

a 1-meter sea-level rise and applied a coastal 

economic vulnerability index (CEVI), which 

includes both physical and economic factors 

that contribute to societal risks from rising sea 

level. The model, which highlights areas where 

human populations and the built environment 

are most at risk (fig. 2), can be used by coastal 

managers as they allocate limited resources for 

ecosystem restoration, beach nourishment, and 

coastal-protection infrastructure.

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/fs20143037

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. The vulnerability 

of human populations and 

infrastructure to projected 

increases in sea level 

can be delineated when 

lidar-derived, high-quality 

digital elevation models 

are available for use in the 

analysis. Courtesy of 

Cindy A. Thatcher, 

U.S. Geological Survey.

 

0 75 150 Kilometers

0 75 150 Miles

TEXAS LOUISIANA

MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA

FLORIDA

Beaumont Lafayette

Baton Rouge

New Orleans

Mobile

Coastal economic 

 vulnerabilty index

Very low

Low

Moderate

High

Very high

EXPLANATION

N

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

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

Louisiana (Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(millions)

1 Flood risk management $1.85

2 Natural resources conservation 1.83

3 Agriculture and precision farming 1.24

4 Infrastructure and construction management 0.80

5 Water supply and quality 0.27

6 Forest resources management 0.25

7 Coastal zone management 0.25

8 Sea level rise and subsidence 0.24

9 Aviation navigation and safety 0.09

10 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 0.09

Other 0.05

Total 6.96

Table 1. Data quality levels used in the 

National Enhanced Elevation Assessment 

(Dewberry, 2011).

[≤, 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