THE BENEFITS OF IMPROVED NATIONAL ELEVATION DATA

Elevation data are essential for flood hazard mitigation, agricultural productivity, infrastructure and energy development, resource conservation, national security, and many other applications. Today, under the leadership of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Digital Elevation Program (NDEP), an interagency coordination committee established in 2000, Federal agencies, State agencies, and others work together to acquire high-quality elevation data for the United States and its territories. New elevation data are acquired using modern technology to replace elevation data that are, on average, more than 30 years old. Through the efforts of the NDEP, a project-by-project data acquisition approach has resulted in improved, publicly available data for less than 30 percent of the United States. Although the program operates efficiently, the rate of data collection and the accuracy of new data being collected are insufficient to fully address the majority of government, private sector, and other organization needs.