3DEP in New York by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $11.97 million 

Estimated total cost $16.23 million

Payback 1.4 years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$10.33 million

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2014–3006

February 2014

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for New York

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 New York, elevation data are critical for 

coastal zone management, natural resources 

conservation, agriculture and precision 

farming, flood risk management, 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 New York

The top 10 New York 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 New York estimated that the national 

3DEP initiative would result in at least 

$11.97 million in new benefits annually to 

the State. The cost for such a program in 

New York is approximately $16 million, 

resulting in a payback period of 1.4 years 

and a benefit/cost ratio of 5.9 to 1 over an 

8-year period. Because monetary estimates 

were not provided for all reported benefits, 

the total benefits of the 3DEP to New York 

are likely much higher. On the basis of the 

NEEA survey results, all levels of government and many organizations in New York 

could benefit from access to statewide highresolution elevation data.

For New York, approximately 

86 percent of the identified business use 

requirements will be met in coastal zone 

management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, 

and flood risk management uses alone, as 

shown in table 2. The status of publicly 

available lidar data in New York is shown 

in figure 1. By enhancing coordination 

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 New York showing 

the areal extent and quality levels of 

planned and existing publicly available 

light detection and ranging (lidar) data in 

August 2013. Quality level 2 or better lidar 

data meet 3DEP requirements. See table 1 

for quality level information. 

EXPLANATION

Quality level 2

 or better data

Quality level 3

data

Quality level 4

or lower data

No publicly available

lidar data

0 70 Kilometers

0 50 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

Craig A. Neidig, 

 USGS Geospatial Liaison

11 Dunbar Street

Charleston, WV 25301

Email: cneidig@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

between 3DEP and various government and 

private organizations in New York, 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 New York: (1) Coastal zone mapping 

is required by State statute every year. 

Comprehensive lidar coverage would 

enable detailed modeling for critical topics, 

including understanding risks from sea level 

rise and storm surges and the vulnerability 

of shallow tidal water habitats to climate 

change. The need for updated lidar data 

for coastal areas of New York, for damage 

assessment and future hazard mitigation, 

was demonstrated in the aftermath of Tropical Storms Irene and Lee in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 (fig. 2). To help with 

recovery efforts, the Governor created the 

New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program (http://stormrecovery.ny.gov/),

which recognizes lidar data as a critical 

resource to better manage the impacts of 

catastrophic weather events. (2) Enhanced 

elevation data could enable State, regional, 

and local governments to more effectively 

implement natural resources conservation 

practices such as grade stabilization, dam 

safety, habitat easements, pipelines, terracing, and wetland restoration, while providing additional cost savings to the public. If 

lidar data were available, public and private 

organizations would expand their use of 

lidar for planning and site-level engineering 

to reduce field work for conservation projects.

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/fs20143006

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 highquality elevation-data products can be created to serve a wide range of business uses 

in government and the private sector.

Figure 2. Hurricane Sandy devastated Long Island

and other coastal areas of New York. To effectively 

assist with recovery efforts, the Governor created 

the New York Rising Community Reconstruction 

Program, which recognizes lidar data as a 

critical resource to better manage the impacts of 

catastrophic weather events. Photograph courtesy 

of New York State Information Technology Services, 

Geospatial Information Systems Program Office.

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

3DEP data identified in the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment for New York 

(Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(millions)

1 Coastal zone management $3.19

2 Natural resources conservation 3.18

3 Agriculture and precision farming 2.23

4 Flood risk management 1.68

5 Infrastructure and construction management 0.55

6 Water supply and quality 0.39

7 Forest resources management 0.35

8 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 0.16

9 Aviation navigation and safety 0.16

10 Sea level rise and subsidence 0.04

Other 0.04

Total 11.97

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