USGS LiDAR progress in Montana 2026-02-19 - more LiDAR elevation source data
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Glenn Borkenhagen
Feb 25, 2026, 12:18:52 PMFeb 25
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Greetings to MAGIP -
The USGS recently released more aerial LiDAR elevation source data tiles for Montana. This includes new LiDAR point cloud (LPC) and original product resolution (OPR) digital-elevation-model (DEM) tiles.
New coverage is of a bit more than 1,670 square miles covering the great majority of Jefferson County. This data is quality-level 2 (QL2). Communities covered include Basin, Clancy, and Jefferson City.
Boulder, Cardwell, and Whitehall do not appear to be covered in this release, or are on the very edge of the coverage area. Those areas are expected to be covered with QL1 data, the highest quality data normally provided by USGS, at some time in the future via another project.
A georeferenced PDF map showing the area of the latest releases is available here.
The red area on that map was published on Thursday 19 February 2026.
The new LPC coverage areas do not appear on the image currently provided at The National Map Download when you click on "Show" but that should change in the next few days. On Friday 20 February 2026 the tiles were there ready for free downloading using the various selection methods. (It was noted that the Point selection method did not seem to be working on that date.)
This new data is also available through the USGS Amazon Web Services ( AWS ) system if that is your preferred method.
Product-level raster (GeoTIFF) one-meter 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. The USGS refers to this project as "MT DNRCphase1 2018 C21" and this project is called "2018 DNRC QL1 Phase 1 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 more aerial LiDAR elevation source data tiles for Montana. This includes new LiDAR point cloud (LPC) and original product resolution (OPR) digital-elevation-model (DEM) tiles.
New coverage is of a bit more than 1,670 square miles covering the great majority of Jefferson County. This data is quality-level 2 (QL2). Communities covered include Basin, Clancy, and Jefferson City.
Boulder, Cardwell, and Whitehall do not appear to be covered in this release, or are on the very edge of the coverage area. Those areas are expected to be covered with QL1 data, the highest quality data normally provided by USGS, at some time in the future via another project.
A georeferenced PDF map showing the area of the latest releases is available here.
The red area on that map was published on Thursday 19 February 2026.
The new LPC coverage areas do not appear on the image currently provided at The National Map Download when you click on "Show" but that should change in the next few days. On Friday 20 February 2026 the tiles were there ready for free downloading using the various selection methods. (It was noted that the Point selection method did not seem to be working on that date.)
This new data is also available through the USGS Amazon Web Services ( AWS ) system if that is your preferred method.
Product-level raster (GeoTIFF) one-meter 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. The USGS refers to this project as "MT DNRCphase1 2018 C21" and this project is called "2018 DNRC QL1 Phase 1 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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