The U.S. Geological Survey is making a new national map using the new 3D elevation program and data will soon be collected in eastern Arkansas.
It has contracted with Woolpert, based in Ohio, to acquire topographic “Quality Level 1” lidar data and provide a ground control survey across eastern Arkansas in support of its new topographical national map project, according to a press release. Woolpert will collect 24,533 square miles of aerial lidar data, including parts of the Ozark-St. Francis and Ouachita National Forests, using a Leica TerrainMapper.
The 3D elevation program offers the nation’s first baseline of seamless, high-resolution topographic elevation data, which is then incorporated into the national map. The data is free and publicly available to local, state and national agencies. They are used to inform decisions that impact the immediate safety of life, property and the environment, and they are critical to effective, long-term infrastructure planning.
In Arkansas, lidar data has proved beneficial in agriculture and precision farming, flood-risk management, urban and regional planning, natural resources conservation as well as critical mineral assessment.
Woolpert Project Manager Megan Blaskovich said that the size and complexity of the area of interest required extensive planning. She expects the lidar data to be acquired by fall 2024 and delivered in summer 2025. QL1 data are collected at 8 points per square meter.
“This is one of the largest Quality Level 1 lidar acquisition projects our team has been tasked with. We will be flying 996 flight lines and collecting over 940 ground control survey points,” Blaskovich said. “We are excited to get started.”
