TechnicalGIS

LiDAR and elevation data for United States

National open LiDAR Openly licensed LiDAR covers about 70% or more of the land area.

The USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) publishes public-domain lidar point clouds and 1 m bare-earth DEMs collected to Quality Level 2 or better; USGS Circular 1553 reports 3DEP data available or in progress for 98.3 per cent of the nation at the end of fiscal year 2024 (including IfSAR in Alaska). Several states run their own statewide programmes, which are listed separately.

Best open resolution
0.7 m
Open LiDAR coverage
–
Datasets
13 · 8 open · 12 free
Region
North America
Last reviewed

By state, province or region

LiDAR status by subnational area in United States
Area Status Summary Datasets
Indiana National open LiDAR Statewide QL2 lidar (2016–2020) with a 2.5 ft bare-earth DEM, released as a public-domain dataset with no use restrictions. Indiana Statewide Digital Elevation (2016–2020 lidar)
Vermont National open LiDAR Statewide QL2 lidar completed in January 2019, with 0.7 m DEM, DSM and nDSM products from VCGI. Vermont statewide lidar and derived elevation
Washington Partial open LiDAR Washington DNR’s Lidar Portal distributes point clouds, DTMs and DSMs project by project from 2002 onwards; no explicit licence is stated on the portal. Washington Lidar Portal
Kentucky National open LiDAR KyFromAbove has collected statewide lidar since 2010 and distributes it freely in the public domain. KyFromAbove lidar and elevation
North Carolina Partial open LiDAR NC Emergency Management QL1/QL2 statewide lidar and a 3 ft DEM are downloadable; no explicit licence is stated on the NC OneMap elevation page. North Carolina statewide lidar and 3 ft DEM
Pennsylvania Partial open LiDAR The PAMAP programme’s statewide 3.2 ft DEM (2006–2008) is downloadable through PASDA; no explicit licence is stated. PAMAP Program 3.2 ft Digital Elevation Model 2006–2008
Minnesota Partial open LiDAR MnTOPO serves second-generation statewide lidar (2021–2024) as STAC, COG and VRT; no explicit licence is stated on the access page. MnTOPO second-generation lidar elevation
Iowa Partial open LiDAR GeoTREE publishes statewide 2010 and 2020 lidar-derived DEM and DSM COGs; no explicit licence is stated. Iowa statewide lidar-derived DEM and DSM

Datasets 13

Free is not the same as open. Cost is what you pay to get the data; the licence says what you may do with it. How cost and licence are defined

  • Vermont statewide lidar and derived elevation (opens in a new tab)

    Vermont Center for Geographic Information (VCGI)

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • DTM
    • DSM
    • Point cloud
    Resolution
    0.7 m
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Statewide QL2 coverage completed in January 2019; 0.7 m hydro-flattened DEM, DSM and nDSM
    Licence
    Freely downloadable; raw point clouds distributed through USGS 3DEP (public domain)
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    GeoTIFF, LAZ
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • Indiana Statewide Digital Elevation (2016–2020 lidar) (opens in a new tab)

    IndianaMap / Indiana Statewide Data Program

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • Point cloud
    • DTM
    • Intensity
    Resolution
    0.76 m
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    2016–2020
    Coverage
    Statewide QL2 lidar; 2.5 ft bare-earth DEM
    Licence
    Public domain dataset with no use restrictions
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    LAS, IMG, GeoTIFF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • 3DEP 1 m digital elevation models (opens in a new tab)

    U.S. Geological Survey

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • DTM
    Resolution
    1 m
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Areas with QL2 or better lidar; 1 m bare-earth DEM tiles
    Licence
    Public domain (US Government work)
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    GeoTIFF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • 3DEP lidar point clouds (opens in a new tab)

    U.S. Geological Survey

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • Point cloud
    • Intensity
    Resolution
    –
    Point density
    2 pts/m²
    Vertical accuracy
    RMSEz ≤10 cm (QL1/QL2); ≤5 cm (QL0)
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Conterminous US, Hawaii and territories, by project; QL2 or better baseline (QL0 RMSEz ≤5 cm, QL1 and QL2 ≤10 cm)
    Licence
    Public domain (US Government work)
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    LAZ
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • KyFromAbove lidar and elevation (opens in a new tab)

    Commonwealth of Kentucky (KyFromAbove)

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • Point cloud
    • DTM
    Resolution
    –
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Statewide lidar programme
    Licence
    Freely distributed in the public domain
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    LAZ, GeoTIFF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • Lidar Base Specification 2025 rev. A (quality levels) (opens in a new tab)

    U.S. Geological Survey

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • Point cloud
    Resolution
    –
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Specification defining QL0–QL2 accuracy and density requirements for 3DEP
    Licence
    Public domain (US Government work)
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    PDF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • USGS 3DEP LiDAR Point Clouds on AWS (opens in a new tab)

    U.S. Geological Survey / AWS Open Data

    Cost Mixed Licence Open
    • Point cloud
    Resolution
    –
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    All 3DEP projects; Entwine Point Tile (EPT) bucket is public, raw LAZ bucket is requester-pays
    Licence
    US Government Public Domain
    Access
    API
    Formats
    EPT, LAZ
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • North Carolina statewide lidar and 3 ft DEM (opens in a new tab)

    NC Emergency Management / NC OneMap

    Cost Free Licence Not open
    • Point cloud
    • DTM
    Resolution
    0.91 m
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Statewide QL1/QL2 lidar with a 3 ft DEM
    Licence
    No licence statement found on the elevation page
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    LAZ, GeoTIFF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • PAMAP Program 3.2 ft Digital Elevation Model 2006–2008 (opens in a new tab)

    Pennsylvania DCNR (via PASDA)

    Cost Free Licence Not open
    • DTM
    Resolution
    0.98 m
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    2006–2008
    Coverage
    Statewide DEM derived from PAMAP lidar
    Licence
    No licence statement found on the PASDA summary page
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    GeoTIFF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • Iowa statewide lidar-derived DEM and DSM (opens in a new tab)

    University of Northern Iowa GeoTREE

    Cost Free Licence Not open
    • DTM
    • DSM
    Resolution
    –
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    2010, 2020
    Coverage
    Statewide 2010 and 2020 DEM, DSM, hillshade and DEM-difference COGs
    Licence
    No licence statement found on the download page
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    COG
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • MnTOPO second-generation lidar elevation (opens in a new tab)

    Minnesota Geospatial Information Office / MnTOPO

    Cost Free Licence Not open
    • DTM
    • Point cloud
    Resolution
    –
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    2021–2024
    Coverage
    Statewide second-generation lidar 2021–2024, served as STAC, COG and VRT
    Licence
    No licence statement found on the access page
    Access
    API
    Formats
    COG, LAZ
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • Washington Lidar Portal (opens in a new tab)

    Washington State Department of Natural Resources

    Cost Free Licence Not open
    • Point cloud
    • DTM
    • DSM
    • Bathymetric LiDAR
    Resolution
    –
    Point density
    –
    Vertical accuracy
    –
    Acquired
    2002–2026
    Coverage
    Project-by-project coverage of Washington State, including topobathymetric projects
    Licence
    No licence statement found on the portal page
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    LAZ, GeoTIFF
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

Elsewhere in North America