The 3D Elevation Program is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Geospatial Program to respond to growing needs for high-quality topographic data and for a wide range of other three-dimensional (3D) representations of the Nation's natural and constructed features. 3DEP informs critical decisions that are made across our Nation every day that depend on elevation data, ranging from immediate safety of life, property, and environment to long term planning for infrastructure projects.

3DEP is based on the results of the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (NEEA) that was funded by National Digital Elevation Program (NDEP) agencies and completed in 2012. The study, led by the USGS, identified more than 600 requirements for enhanced (3D) elevation data to address mission-critical information requirements of 34 Federal agencies, all 50 States, and a sample of private sector companies and Tribal and local governments.

The first full year of 3DEP production began in 2016 and at the end of fiscal year 2023, 94.7% of the Nation has available or in progress elevation data that meet 3DEP specifications for high accuracy and resolution.

The USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is collecting high-quality lidar and IfSAR (for Alaska) coverage for all of the United States and its territories.

• Complete Coverage of the Continental US, HI and PR/VI


• Horizontal Resolutions Available
  
  • 10 Meter (1/3 Arc Second) resolution for Continental US, HI and PR/VI
  • 30 Meter (1 Arc Second) resolution for Continental US, HI and PR/VI
        Generated from the 10-Meter 3DEPs


• 3DEP Quads are made rectangular data sets to be compatible with ChartTiff Topographic Maps
  


• File names compatible with USGS DRG Quad naming standard


• Vertical Resolution: 1 DeciMeter or 10 CM or approximately 4 Inches.


• Vertical Datum: NAVD88


• Creation Date from Metadata file included in ChartTiff's Order.txt file.
      Complete Metadata.xml file available while viewing Thumbnails.


• Order by:
  • Individual Quads


• Formmats Available:
  
  • USGS Standard DEM file format
  • GeoTIFF Format, includes ".tfw" world file
  • ESRI Grid Float Format
  • PLS-CADD ASCII Text, X,Y,Z format
        XYZ text file format specifically for PLS CADD Software
  • ASCII Text, X,Y,Z format
        XYZ text file format is a simple text format
        where each elevation point is described by x, y, and z coordinates.
        The x value defines the east/west coordinate,
              y defines the north/south coordinate, and
              z defines the elevation.
        User can select Tab, Comma or Space delimited file.
        The XYZ text format does not contain any header information:
    
               x1,y1,z1
               x2,y2,z2
               x3,y3,z3
               .....
               xn,yn,zn
  • C Tech File Format
        GMF and EFF files, directly read by C Tech Software


• Available Projections
  • UTM - User Selectable Zones - NAD27 / NAD83 / WGS72 / WGS84
  • State Plane - User Selectable Zones - NAD27 / NAD83
  • Latitude / Longitude - NAD27 / NAD83 / WGS72 / WGS84
  • Web Mercator - WGS84


• Optional Shaded Elevation Models can be added as an additional file.
  Click Here for Additional Information.
  


• A 3DEP Quad is available as 1 Free Download