USGS LiDAR progress in Montana 2026-03-10 - more LiDAR elevation source data
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Glenn Borkenhagen
Mar 12, 2026, 5:52:59 PM (22 hours ago) Mar 12
to MAGIP Listserv
Greetings to MAGIP -
As announced by Elaine Guidero of USGS yesterday, the USGS recently released LiDAR point cloud (LPC) and original product resolution (OPR) digital-elevation-model (DEM) tiles covering almost 3,700 square miles, all of Lincoln County. This data was collected from July through October 2024 and is quality-level 1 (QL1), the highest quality data normally provided by USGS.
A georeferenced PDF map showing the area of the latest releases is available here. The orange area on that map was published on Tuesday 10 March 2026.
The new LPC and OPR coverage areas do not appear on the images currently provided at The National Map Download and USGS _ LidarExplorer when you click on "Show" but that should change in the next few days.
As of this writing (afternoon of Thursday 12 March), neither of the generally easy-to-use sources in the previous paragraph seem to have this new data available. They usually have the data available for downloading soon after release, before it appears on their respective maps.
If someone is anxious to begin using the new data, it is available from the USGS Rockyweb server (step-by-step instructions are here) and Amazon Web Services (AWS - step-by-step instructions are here). On Wednesday 11 March 2026 both the LPC and OPR data was available from both of those sources.
To facilitate use of those sources -
The project is "MT_Lincoln_D24"
The work unit is "MT_Lincoln_1_D24" both without the quotes.
Product-level raster (GeoTIFF) one-meter 10-km x 10-km digital elevation models (DEMs) are not yet available for this new data. Generally USGS delays issuing new product-level DEMs until after all LPCs and OPRs in a project are completed and released. This project is called "2024 USGS Montana Lincoln County QL1 Lidar" on the US Interagency Elevation Inventory webpage.
Finally, a reminder that if the USGS is not yet providing LiDAR point cloud (LPC) or LiDAR-derived DEM data for your area of interest, the Montana_Lidar_Inventory at the Montana State Library has and offers LiDAR coverage not available from USGS. The Montana Lidar Inventory also provides countywide mosaics as well as derived products such as digital surface models (DSMs - including trees, buildings, etc.), tree-canopy-height models, hillshades, contours, and building footprints depending on the area.
Regards,
Glenn Borkenhagen
Cody, Wyoming
307-272-5044
gl...@inlandgps.com
As announced by Elaine Guidero of USGS yesterday, the USGS recently released LiDAR point cloud (LPC) and original product resolution (OPR) digital-elevation-model (DEM) tiles covering almost 3,700 square miles, all of Lincoln County. This data was collected from July through October 2024 and is quality-level 1 (QL1), the highest quality data normally provided by USGS.
A georeferenced PDF map showing the area of the latest releases is available here. The orange area on that map was published on Tuesday 10 March 2026.
The new LPC and OPR coverage areas do not appear on the images currently provided at The National Map Download and USGS _ LidarExplorer when you click on "Show" but that should change in the next few days.
As of this writing (afternoon of Thursday 12 March), neither of the generally easy-to-use sources in the previous paragraph seem to have this new data available. They usually have the data available for downloading soon after release, before it appears on their respective maps.
If someone is anxious to begin using the new data, it is available from the USGS Rockyweb server (step-by-step instructions are here) and Amazon Web Services (AWS - step-by-step instructions are here). On Wednesday 11 March 2026 both the LPC and OPR data was available from both of those sources.
To facilitate use of those sources -
The project is "MT_Lincoln_D24"
The work unit is "MT_Lincoln_1_D24" both without the quotes.
Product-level raster (GeoTIFF) one-meter 10-km x 10-km digital elevation models (DEMs) are not yet available for this new data. Generally USGS delays issuing new product-level DEMs until after all LPCs and OPRs in a project are completed and released. This project is called "2024 USGS Montana Lincoln County QL1 Lidar" on the US Interagency Elevation Inventory webpage.
Finally, a reminder that if the USGS is not yet providing LiDAR point cloud (LPC) or LiDAR-derived DEM data for your area of interest, the Montana_Lidar_Inventory at the Montana State Library has and offers LiDAR coverage not available from USGS. The Montana Lidar Inventory also provides countywide mosaics as well as derived products such as digital surface models (DSMs - including trees, buildings, etc.), tree-canopy-height models, hillshades, contours, and building footprints depending on the area.
Regards,
Glenn Borkenhagen
Cody, Wyoming
307-272-5044
gl...@inlandgps.com
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