WAGIS2018

Lidar data has broad benefits for the range of applications it supports: from emergency management, hazards mapping, natural resources, and habitat restoration to urban development, agriculture and wildfire mitigation. In 2016, the Washington Geological Survey started a lidar collection program with hazards mapping as a primary motivation, but with the vast array of applications in mind, it began a wide-scale collection approach focused on consistency and quality. In order to provide this data to the public, the WGS also developed an online distribution portal, making lidar data and derivatives available for download. With the data from the first large-scale collection project delivered and posted to the portal, this talk will review the mapping and distribution approach and look at some examples of the recently complete dataset. There is a lot of the state yet to cover in order to have consistent data coverage, and the approach for future collections will also be discussed.