USGS LiDAR progress in Montana 2026-04-15 - more LiDAR elevation source data
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Glenn Borkenhagen
Apr 23, 2026, 3:05:18 PMApr 23
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Greetings to MAGIP -
The USGS recently released some more aerial LiDAR point cloud (LPC) and original product resolution (OPR) bare-earth digital-elevation-model (DEM) tiles for Montana.
New coverage is of almost 3,000 square miles consisting of portions of Broadwater, Meagher, Judith Basin, Wheatland, Fergus, Golden Valley, and Musselshell counties, including the communities of Buffalo, Judith Gap, and Melstone.
A georeferenced PDF map showing the area of the latest releases is available here. The red area on that map was published on Wednesday 15 April 2026.
The data was collected during July and August 2023. These tiles are Quality Level 2 (QL2) data, the base-level quality typically provided by USGS.
Right now the lighter-green QL2 coverage area does 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 (morning of Monday 20 April), 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 via Amazon Web Services (AWS - step-by-step instructions are here). On Monday 20 April 2026 both the LPC and OPR data was available via both of those methods.
To facilitate use of those sources -
The project is "MT_Statewide_Phase5_D23"
The work unit is "MT_Statewide_P5_2_D23", 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 "2023 USGS Statewide MT Phase 5 QL2 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
The USGS recently released some more aerial LiDAR point cloud (LPC) and original product resolution (OPR) bare-earth digital-elevation-model (DEM) tiles for Montana.
New coverage is of almost 3,000 square miles consisting of portions of Broadwater, Meagher, Judith Basin, Wheatland, Fergus, Golden Valley, and Musselshell counties, including the communities of Buffalo, Judith Gap, and Melstone.
A georeferenced PDF map showing the area of the latest releases is available here. The red area on that map was published on Wednesday 15 April 2026.
The data was collected during July and August 2023. These tiles are Quality Level 2 (QL2) data, the base-level quality typically provided by USGS.
Right now the lighter-green QL2 coverage area does 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 (morning of Monday 20 April), 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 via Amazon Web Services (AWS - step-by-step instructions are here). On Monday 20 April 2026 both the LPC and OPR data was available via both of those methods.
To facilitate use of those sources -
The project is "MT_Statewide_Phase5_D23"
The work unit is "MT_Statewide_P5_2_D23", 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 "2023 USGS Statewide MT Phase 5 QL2 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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