3DEP in North Dakota by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $12.39 million 

Estimated total cost $23.58 million

Payback 1.9 years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$15.00 million

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2014–3036

April 2014

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for North Dakota

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 North Dakota, elevation data 

are critical for agriculture and precision 

farming, natural resources conservation, 

water supply and quality, infrastructure 

and construction management, flood risk 

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 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 North Dakota

The top 10 North Dakota 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 North Dakota estimated that the 

national 3DEP initiative would result in at 

least $12.3 million in new benefits annually 

to the State. The cost for such a program in 

North Dakota is approximately $24 million, 

resulting in a payback period of 1.9 years 

and a benefit/cost ratio of 4.2 to 1 over an 

8-year period. Because monetary estimates 

were not provided for all reported benefits, 

the total benefits of the 3DEP to North 

Dakota are likely much higher. On the 

basis of the NEEA survey results, all levels 

of government and many organizations in 

North Dakota could benefit from access to 

statewide high-resolution elevation data.

For North Dakota, approximately 

87 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 

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 North Dakota showing 

the extent of existing and planned publicly 

available lidar data. Information source: 

United States Interagency Elevation 

Inventory, August 2013, 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 60 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

Stephen P. Shivers, 

 USGS Geospatial Liaison

1608 Mountain View Road

Rapid City, South Dakota 57702

Email: spshivers@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

in North Dakota is shown in figure 1. By 

enhancing coordination between 3DEP and 

various government and private organizations in North Dakota, 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 North Dakota: (1) Approximately 89 

percent of the land area of North Dakota is 

devoted to agricultural uses. Enhanced elevation data could dramatically improve precision farming. A more accurate depiction 

of the terrain could help determine a more 

precise application of agricultural chemicals, thereby likely yielding significant cost 

savings and a reduction in agricultural pollution. (2) Enhanced elevation data could 

enable State, regional, and local governments to more effectively implement natural resources conservation practices while 

providing additional cost savings to the 

public. If lidar data were available nationally, public and private organizations would 

expand their use of lidar for planning and 

site-level engineering to reduce field work 

for conservation projects such as grade 

stabilization, ponds, grassed waterways, 

terracing, and wetland restoration.

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-Nation

alEnhancedElevationAssessment.

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/fs20143036

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. Enhanced elevation data aids 

precision farming, which improves crop 

yields, prevents soil degradation, minimizes 

groundwater usage, and helps farmers realize 

a larger return on their investments. The 

tractor is equipped with GPS and precision 

agriculture equipment, thus allowing for 

precise applications of seed and chemicals. 

Courtesy of J.R. Simplot Company.

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

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

North Dakota (Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(millions)

1 Agriculture and precision farming $7.87

2 Natural resources conservation 2.95

3 Water supply and quality 0.49

4 Infrastructure and construction management 0.47

5 Flood risk management 0.31

6 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 0.13

7 Renewable energy resources 0.09

8 Aviation navigation and safety 0.06

9 River and stream resource management 0.02

10 Forest resources management 0.00

Other 0.00

Total 12.39

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