Publications
Here you will find publications, reports and articles produced by the National Geospatial Program (NGP) scientists. For a comprehensive listing of all USGS publications please click the button below.
Filter Total Items: 182
US Topo—Topographic maps for the Nation
Building on the success of 125 years of mapping, the U.S. Geological Survey created US Topo, a georeferenced digital map produced from The National Map data. US Topo maps are designed to be used like the traditional 7.5-minute quadrangle paper topographic maps for which the U.S. Geological Survey is so well known. However, in contrast to paper-based maps, US Topo maps provide modern technological
Authors
Kristin A. Fishburn, William J. Carswell
The 3D Elevation Program—Landslide recognition, hazard assessment, and mitigation support
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landslide Hazards Program conducts landslide hazard assessments, pursues landslide investigations and forecasts, provides technical assistance to respond to landslide emergencies, and engages in outreach. All of these activities benefit from the availability of high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D) elevation information in the form of light detection and ranging
Authors
Vicki Lukas, William J. Carswell, Jr.
Status of the 3D Elevation Program, 2015
The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is a cooperative activity to collect light detection and ranging (lidar) data for the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and U.S. territories; and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IfSAR) elevation data for Alaska during an 8-year period. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and partner organizations acquire high-quality three-dimensional elevation data for th
Authors
Larry J. Sugarbaker, Diane F. Eldridge, Allyson L. Jason, Vicki Lukas, David L. Saghy, Jason M. Stoker, Diana R. Thunen
The 3D elevation program - Precision agriculture and other farm practices
A founding motto of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), originally the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), explains that “If we take care of the land, it will take care of us.” Digital elevation models (DEMs; see fig. 1) are derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) data and can be processed to derive values such as slope angle, aspect, and topographic curvature. These three mea
Authors
Larry J. Sugarbaker, William J. Carswell, Jr.
The 3D Elevation Program and America's infrastructure
Infrastructure—the physical framework of transportation, energy, communications, water supply, and other systems—and construction management—the overall planning, coordination, and control of a project from beginning to end—are critical to the Nation’s prosperity. The American Society of Civil Engineers has warned that, despite the importance of the Nation’s infrastructure, it is in fair to poor c
Authors
Vicki Lukas, William J. Carswell, Jr.
Evaluation of single photon and Geiger mode Lidar for the 3D Elevation Program
Data acquired by Harris Corporation’s (Melbourne, FL, USA) Geiger-mode IntelliEarth™ sensor and Sigma Space Corporation’s (Lanham-Seabrook, MD, USA) Single Photon HRQLS sensor were evaluated and compared to accepted 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) data and survey ground control to assess the suitability of these new technologies for the 3DEP. While not able to collect data currently to meet USGS lidar
Authors
Jason M. Stoker, Qassim Abdullah, Amar Nayegandhi, Jayna Winehouse
Evaluating integration of inland bathymetry in the U.S. Geological Survey 3D Elevation Program, 2014
Inland bathymetry survey collections, survey data types, features, sources, availability, and the effort required to integrate inland bathymetric data into the U.S. Geological Survey 3D Elevation Program are assessed to help determine the feasibility of integrating three-dimensional water feature elevation data into The National Map. Available data from wading, acoustic, light detection and rangin
Authors
Cynthia Miller-Corbett
3D Elevation Program—Virtual USA in 3D
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) uses a laser system called ‘lidar’ (light detection and ranging) to create a virtual reality map of the Nation that is very accurate. 3D maps have many uses with new uses being discovered all the time.
Authors
Vicki Lukas, J. M. Stoker
Evaluating lidar point densities for effective estimation of aboveground biomass
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) was recently established to provide airborne lidar data coverage on a national scale. As part of a broader research effort of the USGS to develop an effective remote sensing-based methodology for the creation of an operational biomass Essential Climate Variable (Biomass ECV) data product, we evaluated the performance of airborne lidar d
Authors
Zhuoting Wu, Dennis G. Dye, Jason M. Stoker, John M. Vogel, Miguel G. Velasco, Barry R. Middleton
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Puerto Rico
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, scientific research, national security, recreation, and many others. For the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, elevation data are critical for flood risk management, landslide mitigation, natural resources conservation, sea level rise and subsidence, coastal zone manage
Authors
William J. Carswell
A multidimensional representation model of geographic features
A multidimensional model of geographic features has been developed and implemented with data from The National Map of the U.S. Geological Survey. The model, programmed in C++ and implemented as a feature library, was tested with data from the National Hydrography Dataset demonstrating the capability to handle changes in feature attributes, such as increases in chlorine concentration in a stream, a
Authors
E. Lynn Usery, George Timson, Mark Coletti
USGS lidar science strategy—Mapping the technology to the science
Summary
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) utilizes light detection and ranging (lidar) and enabling technologies to support many science research activities. Lidar-derived metrics and products have become a fundamental input to complex hydrologic and hydraulic models, flood inundation models, fault detection and geologic mapping, topographic and land-surface mapping, landslide and volcano hazards
Authors
Jason M. Stoker, John Brock, Christopher E. Soulard, Kernell G. Ries, Larry J. Sugarbaker, Wesley E. Newton, Patricia K. Haggerty, Kathy Lee, John A. Young