The EarthScope Northern California Lidar project acquired high resolution airborne laser swath mapping imagery along major active faults as part of the EarthScope Facility project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Between this project and the previously conducted B4 project, also funded by NSF, the entire San Andreas fault system has now been imaged with high resolution airborne lidar, along with many other important geologic features. EarthScope is funded by NSF and conducted in partnership with the USGS and NASA. GeoEarthScope is a component of EarthScope that includes the acquisition of aerial and satellite imagery and geochronology. EarthScope is managed at UNAVCO. Please use the following language to acknowledge EarthScope Lidar: This material is based on services provided to the Plate Boundary Observatory by NCALM (http://www.ncalm.org). PBO is operated by UNAVCO for EarthScope (http://www.earthscope.org) and supported by the National Science Foundation (No. EAR-0350028 and EAR-0732947).

Product: These lidar data are processed Classified LAS 1.4 files, formatted to individual 1000 m x 1000 m tiles; used to create intensity images, 3D breaklines, and hydro-flattened DEMs as necessary. Geographic Extent: 8 counties in California: Butte, Lassen, Marin, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama, Yuba Dataset Description: The Northern California - QL1 project called for the planning, acqui...

This dataset contains linework of lineaments mapped on 4 <1-m-resolution lidar datasets and the 10-m-resolution National Elevation Dataset digital elevation models in the Pit River region of northeastern California. Lineaments are classified by confidence in tectonic origin, map certainty, and the ages of the bedrock and surficial deposits they cross.

Product: These lidar data are processed Classified LAS 1.4 files, formatted to individual 1000 m x 1000 m tiles; used to create intensity images, 3D breaklines, and hydro-flattened DEMs as necessary. Geographic Extent: 27 counties in California, covering approximately 16846 total square miles. Dataset Description: The Northern California - QL2 project called for the planning, acquisition, p...

The EarthScope Southern & Eastern California Lidar Project acquired high resolution lidar topography data along major active faults as part of the EarthScope Facility project. EarthScope is funded by NSF and conducted in partnership with the USGS and NASA. GeoEarthScope is a component of EarthScope that includes the acquisition of aerial and satellite imagery and geochronology. EarthScope is managed at UNAVCO.Please use the following language to acknowledge EarthScope Lidar:This material is based on services provided to the Plate Boundary Observatory by NCALM (http://www.ncalm.org). PBO is operated by UNAVCO for EarthScope (http://www.earthscope.org) and supported by the National Science Foundation (No. EAR-0350028 and EAR-0732947).

Product: Processed, classified lidar point cloud data tiles in LAS 1.4 format. Geographic Extent: QL2 Area - Approximately 8,146 square miles in portions of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura Counties QL1 Area - Approximately 1,343 square miles in portion of Santa Barbara County.

Dataset Description: QL2 Area: The CA SoCal Wild...

The EarthScope Northern California Lidar project acquired high resolution lidar topographic data along major active faults in the Northern San Andreas Fault system, as part of the EarthScope Facility project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Publications associated with this dataset can be found at NCALM's Data Tracking Center

This dataset is intended for researchers interested in active tectonics and earthquake hazards research in the Central Coast region of California, and the areas north and east of San Francisco Bay. The target areas were developed and defined by USGS scientists in collaboration with colleagues working in these regions. The target areas in the Central Coast region are: the Big Sur area and the Oceanic and San Simeon Faults. The target areas in northern California are: the Bartlett Springs and Berryessa Faults, the Greenville Fault, and the Rodgers Creek Fault - Maacama Fault stepover area. The data collection and processing were purchased by the U.S. Geological Survey using funds provided via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

This storymap is intended to illustrate what Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR or lidar) is, how an investment in statewide coverage will benefit California, and provide examples of how it is already being used where the data is available.

Original Product: These lidar data are processed Classified LAS 1.4 files, formatted to 654 individual 1000 m x 1000 m tiles; used to create intensity images, 3D breaklines, and hydro-flattened DEMs as necessary.

Original Dataset Geographic Extent: 4 counties (Alameda, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo) in California, covering approximately 53 total square miles.

Original Dataset Descriptio...

This LiDAR dataset was created for the City of Eureka, California covering approximately 105 square miles of the city and its environs. The origin data was collected on September 24th, 2019 using a Leica Hyperion LiDAR mapping unit and associated ground control was collected by a California Certified PLS. All data was acquired and processed in California Zone 1 State Plane, NAD83(2011), NAVD8...

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data is remotely sensed high-resolution elevation data collected by an airborne collection platform. This LiDAR dataset is a survey of Coastal California. The project area consists of approximately 2616 square miles. The project design of the LiDAR data acquisition was developed to support a nominal post spacing of 1 meter. Fugro EarthData, Inc. acquired 1546 flight lines in 108 lifts between October 2009 and August 2011. This collection was a joint effort by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM); the California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) Ocean Protection Council (OPC); Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise (JALBTCX). The data coverage extends landward 500 m from the shoreline, along the entire California coastline. The data collection was performed with two Piper Navajo twin engine aircrafts, utilizing a Leica ALS60 MPiA sensor; collecting multiple return x, y, and z as well as intensity data. The data were classified as Unclassified (1), Ground (2), Low Point (Noise) (7), Water (9), Mudflats (10), and 12 (Overlap). Only the Unclassified (1), Ground (2), Water (9), and Overlap (12) points are available for download from the NOAA OCM Digital Coast. Original contact information: Contact Org: NOAA Office for Coastal Management Phone: 843-740-1202 Email: coastal.info@noaa.gov

Sonoma County Vegetation Mapping and LiDAR Consortium retained WSI to provide lidar and Orthophoto data and derived products in Sonoma County, CA. A classified LAS format point cloud was collected and developed. Products, such as bare earth DEMs, were derived from the lidar, but are not covered here. The original specified coordinate system for this dataset is California State Plane Zone II (FI...

Original Product: These lidar data are processed Classified LAS 1.4 files, formatted to individual 1000 m x 1000 m tiles; used to create intensity images, 3D breaklines, hydro-flattened DEMs, and spatial metadata such as the maximum surface height rasters and swath separation imagery as necessary.

Original Geographic Extent: 3 counties in California, covering approximately 485 square miles i...

The purpose of this dataset is to provide preliminary filtered, averaged lidar data and standardize the data format of various data streams from the buoy into NetCDF. The attached Lidar Buoy Data Dictionary provides further details on the various instruments mounted on the buoys, parameters measured by each instrument, and the frequency of data collection.

Original Dataset Product: These lidar data are processed Classified LAS 1.4 files, formatted to 3799 individual 2640 ft x 2640 ft tiles clipped to the DPA; used to create 3D Breaklines and Hydro-Flattened DEMs as necessary. The classifications of the points are: 1 - Unclassified 2 - Ground 7 - Low Noise 9 - Water 17 - Bridge Deck 18 - High Noise 20 - Ignored Ground (Near breakline) 64 -...

Following the devastating Los Angeles, California wildfires in January 2025, AlertCalifornia sponsored NV5 to acquire high-resolution airborne lidar data for the Palisades and Eaton impact areas. Through its partnership with University of California San Diego (UCSD), NV5 donated the interim data via the USGS to make them publicly available for use by the emergency response community and others.

This dataset contains preliminary digital elevation model data for response and recovery as part of the Palisades wildfire in California. Lidar was collected and used to create a 0.5 meter raster DTM and DSM. DEMs have not been manually reviewed and should be considered preliminary. The response and recovery for the Palisades wildfire in California called for the planning, acquisition, processing, and derivative products of lidar data to be collected at a nominal pulse spacing (NPS) of 0.25 meters. This data is provisional and was created for the immediate disaster response for the Palisades wildfire. NV5 Inc, UCSD, and USGS make no guarantee or warrantee as to the data's completeness and accuracy, and as a result, anyone using this data is doing so at their sole risk. Lidar was collected in winter 2025, while no snow was on the ground and rivers were at or below normal levels.

The B4 Lidar Project collected lidar point cloud data of the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto Faults in southern California. Data acquisition and processing were performed by the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping (NCALM) in partnership with the USGS and Ohio State University through funding from the EAR Geophysics program at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Optech International contributed the ALTM3100 laser scanner system. UNAVCO and SCIGN assisted in GPS ground control and continuous high rate GPS data acquisition. A group of volunteers from USGS, UCSD, UCLA, Caltech and private industry, as well as gracious landowners along the fault zones, also made the project possible. If you utilize the B4 data for talks, posters or publications, we ask that you acknowledge the B4 project. The B4 logo can be downloaded here.

A new reprocessed (classified) version of this dataset is here:

Publications associated with this dataset can be found at NCALM's Data Tracking Center

This part of the data release presents topography data from northern Monterey Bay, California collected in September 2017 with a terrestrial lidar scanner.

Overview The purpose of this dataset is to provide preliminary filtered, averaged lidar data and standardize the data format of various datastreams from the buoy into NetCDF. Data Quality Standard filtering thresholds on the averaged data were applied and several data format issues of the raw data were streamlined to create a standardized NetCDF format data. Uncertainty The uncertainty of lidar data has not been analyzed, but they are not expected to deviate from instrument technical specifications.