3DEP in Tennessee by the Numbers

Expected annual benefits $6.32 million 

Estimated total cost $14.09 million

Payback 2.2 years

Quality level 1 buy-up 

estimate

$8.97 million

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2014–3008

March 2014

The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for Tennessee

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 Tennessee, elevation data 

are critical for agriculture and precision 

farming, flood risk management, natural 

resources conservation, infrastructure 

and construction management, forest 

resources management, aviation navigation and safety, 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 highquality topographic data and a wide 

range of other 3D representations of the 

Nation’s natural and constructed features.

3D Elevation Program Benefits 

for Tennessee

The top 10 Tennessee 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 Tennessee estimated that the national 

3DEP initiative would result in at least 

$6.3 million in new benefits annually to 

the State. The cost for such a program in 

Tennessee is approximately $14 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 Tennessee 

are likely much higher. On the basis of the 

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

could benefit from access to statewide 

high-resolution elevation data.

For Tennessee, approximately 

83 percent of the identified business use 

requirements will be met in agriculture and 

precision farming, flood risk management, 

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 Tennnessee 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

Quality level 4

or lower data

No publicly available

lidar data

0 80 Kilometers

0 60 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

William Sneed, 

 USGS Geospatial Liaison

401 Hardin Road

Little Rock AR 72211

Email: wsneed@usgs.gov

http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/

By William J. Carswell, Jr.

and natural resources conservation uses 

alone, as shown in table 2. The status of 

publicly available lidar data in Tennessee 

is shown in figure 1. By enhancing 

coordination between 3DEP and various 

government and private organizations in 

Tennessee, 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 Tennessee: (1) Approximately 44 percent 

of the land area of Tennessee 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, a reduction in agricultural pollution, 

and a potential increase in crop production. 

(2) 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 a 

flood risk project that help protect lives and 

property (fig. 2). The quality of analyses 

and study results would be improved as a 

result of the more accurate elevation data. 

Overall, the project completion time and 

cost would be reduced and the savings 

could be applied to other priority flood risk 

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/fs20143008

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. Tipton County flooding, May 1, 

2010. Analyses using lidar data can help 

reduce flood risks. Courtesy of Geospatial 

Information Services, Tennessee Department 

of Finance and Administration.

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

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

Tennessee (Dewberry, 2011).

Rank Business use Annual benefits

(millions)

1 Agriculture and precision farming $2.05

2 Flood risk management 1.68

3 Natural resources conservation 1.49

4 Infrastructure and construction management 0.57

5 Forest resources management 0.23

6 Aviation navigation and safety 0.13

7 Geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation 0.10

8 Renewable energy resources 0.04

9 River and stream resource management 0.01

10 Homeland security, law enforcement, and disaster response 0.01

Other 0.01

Total 6.32

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