Year: 2025
Type: report
Abstract: The 3D Elevation Program-Supporting Rhode Island's Economymust meet the Lidar Base Specification version 1.2 (https://www.usgs.gov/3dep/lidarspec)or newer requirements.The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (Dewberry, 2012) identified user requirements and conservatively estimated that availability of lidar data would result in at least $178,560 in new benefits annually to the State.The top 10 Rhode Island business uses for 3D elevation data, which are based on the estimated annual conservative benefits of 3DEP, are shown in table 2. Status of 3DEP in Rhode IslandRhode Island completed statewide quality level 3 lidar coverage in the spring of 2011 through the Northeast Lidar Project (USGS on Implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Larson, 2009).Between 2014 and 2018, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and USGS acquired quality level 2 lidar data for all coastal areas.The State of Rhode Island, USGS, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture identified business uses and mission critical activities that can benefit from statewide lidar elevation data being updated to quality level 1.As a result, statewide quality level 1 lidar was collected in the spring of 2022.The beach area lidar collection was timed to be within 120 minutes of the predicted mean low tide to measure the elevation of the subaerial beach (the part of the beach uncovered by water) as far into the intertidal zone as possible. Flood Risk ManagementLidar data provide high-quality terrain information as input for more accurate and more cost-effective hydrologic and hydraulic modeling for flood studies, retention-dam design, dam breach studies, and stormwater management and engineering.This information can be used to identify vulnerable properties within a flood plain, facilitate better flood-plain management decisions, and educate the public on flood risk zones by providing dynamic 3D models to show the potential impact of flooding from major storm events.
Source: Fact sheet
DOI: 10.3133/fs20253018
Author: Dan Walters
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409249835