Woolpert Awarded USGS Contract to Collect Aerial Lidar Data Across Western Arkansas, Complete Statewide Acquisition for 3DEP

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Dec. 20, 2024) — The U.S. Geological Survey has tasked Woolpert with collecting 28,043 square miles of topographic Quality Level 1 lidar data and providing ground control survey across western Arkansas in support of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) and The National Map.

The data will be merged with 24,533 square miles of QL1 lidar data currently being collected across eastern Arkansas under a separate contract awarded to Woolpert last year.

3DEP, led by the USGS National Geospatial Program, offers the nation’s first baseline of seamless, high-resolution topographic elevation data, which is then incorporated into The National Map. The data is free and publicly available to local, state, and national agencies. It is used to inform decisions that impact the immediate safety of life, property, and the environment, and is critical to effective, long-term infrastructure planning.

Under this second task order, Woolpert will fly 1,048 flight lines and collect approximately 450 ground control survey points. The aerial lidar data will be collected this winter and is expected to be delivered in summer 2026.

“This new lidar will have a higher level of point density, allowing for preliminary designs and providing topographic survey that engineers can use for a variety of projects, including levelling farm fields, building and improving levees, construction of roadways, and stormwater engineering,” Woolpert Program Director Sam Moffat said. “This data will also enable the state to assist in managing its natural resources and will be particularly useful for applications like forest inventory, biodiversity assessment, watershed analysis, geological mapping, and monitoring environmental changes, providing crucial data for informed decision-making in conservation and resource management strategies.”

The contract is underway.