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 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.

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 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).

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 (https://ncalm.cive.uh.edu/). PBO is operated by UNAVCO for EarthScope (http://www.earthscope.org) and supported by the National Science Foundation (No. EAR-0350028 and EAR-0732947). Publications associated with this dataset can be found at NCALM's Data Tracking Center

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...

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 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.

Overview 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. Data Details The lidar wind directions from the raw data were corrected by adding 180 degrees, due to a field error in connecting the Global Positioning System (GPS) leads to the lidar unit. 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 it is not expected to deviate from instrument technical specifications.

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

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...

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 Eaton 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 Eaton 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 Eaton 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. For more information on this dataset see the NV5 press release

Bathymetric LiDAR data from the upper Sacramento River in northern California were acquired September 10-17, 2017, to support research on remote sensing of rivers, particularly mapping water depth, and to facilitate efforts to characterize salmon habitat conditions and geomorphic change along the upper Sacramento River. These data were collected using a Riefl VQ-880-Gairborne laser scanning system designed for combined hydrographic and topographic surveying. The flight was conducted by Quantum Spatial, Inc. (QSI); QSI also performed all processing of the raw LiDAR data. The data were acquired from fixed wing aircraft and were used to produce tiled point clouds in a .las format and interpolated topo-bathymetric raster Digital Elevation Models (DEM's) with a 1 m cell size in an Arc GRID format. The rasters provided in this data release are subsets focused on the reach of the Sacramento River where it is joined by its tributary Cottonwood Creek; supporting field data from this reach were collected in coordination with the acquisition of the remotely sensed data. Three files based on the LiDAR coverage are included in this data release: 1) a topographic DEM with water surface elevations in the channel; 2) a bathymetric DEM with channel bed elevations; and 3) a depth map produced by subtracting the bathymetric DEM from the topographic DEM to calculate the depth as the difference between the water surface elevation and the bed elevation. These data sets are provided as ENVI format files with associated header files.

This data set is derived from the original 2005 B4 lidar dataset collected over the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto fault zones in southern California, USA. These data have provided a fundamental resource for study of active faulting in southern California since they were released in 2005. However, these data were not classified in a manner that allowed for easy differentiation between bare ground surfaces and the objects and vegetation above that surface. This reprocessed (classified) dataset allows researchers easy and direct access to a \"bare-earth\" digital elevation data set as gridded half-meter resolution rasters (elevation and shaded relief), \"full-feature\" digital elevation models as gridded one-meter resolution rasters (elevation and shaded relief) and as classified (according to ASPRS standards) point clouds in binary .laz format, and a spatial index in shapefile and Google Earth KML format. The reprocessing of the 2005 B4 dataset was performed by Dr. Stephen B DeLong, USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, as a service to the community. The data available here were originally published on the USGS ScienceBase website as Classified point cloud and gridded elevation data from the 2005 B4 Lidar Project, southern California, USA.

Original B4 project description: 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. More information about the B4 Project.

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

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...

This page offers access to lidar data acquired along the Northern San Andreas fault and associated marine terraces in coastal Sonoma and Mendocino counties, California. This dataset covers approximately 418 square kilometers and includes approximately 1.2 billion data points. Point density is 1.2 points per square meter.

These data were acquired by NASA, in collaboration with the United States Geologic Survey and the Puget Sound Lidar Consortium, with funding provided by NASA's Earth Surface and Interior Focus Area. The data was collected and processed by Terrapoint. The data are in the public domain with no restrictions on their use.