OpenTopography provides easy, centralized access to a diverse collection of topographic data. We strive to simplify data discovery by providing a single, accessible platform that integrates data from academic, private, and federal sources, including USGS 3DEP and NOAA Digital Coast. Below is a highlight of datasets that became available on the OpenTopography platform in February 2025.
The ongoing Los Angeles wildfires, including the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires, are scorching parts of the city and have destroyed thousands of homes and other buildings. On January 7, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the fires.
In response to these devastating wildfires in southern California, OpenTopography is temporarily opening our services applied to all USGS 3D Elevation Project (3DEP) and NOAA Coastal lidar datasets covering Los Angeles County.
New and updated Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) datasets are now available through OpenTopography. These datasets collectively add over 22,000 km2 of high resolution topographic data over New Zealand (see areas in red on map below). These datasets are available through an ongoing collaboration between OpenTopography and LINZ as part of the LINZ National Elevation Program.
Find the data here:
OpenTopography is excited to introduce OpenTopography Elevate, a new program designed to provide U.S.-based researchers and educators with personalized, expert assistance in working with digital elevation model and point cloud topography data. This program aims to empower participants with the technical skills necessary to use topography data effectively. Examples of projects include completing graduate-level research, teaching students in-demand knowledge about lidar, or creating museum exhibits that educate the public about Earth’s natural and built landscapes.
OpenTopography invites you to join us for a series of weekly, hour-long webinars in March 2025. During the webinars, we will teach the basics of high resolution topography, including lidar and structure from motion photogrammetry, and demonstrate how to use OpenTopography's growing set of on-demand processing tools. The webinars will feature lectures on background material and hands-on demonstrations. Participants will have the opportunity to use OpenTopography's tools to access, process and visualize topography data.
Connect with OpenTopography at the 2024 American Geophysical Union meeting in Washington, DC! OpenTopography will be in booth #1108 in the "NSF Neighborhood" in the exhibit hall. Our booth is staffed by the OpenTopography team and is a great chance to ask questions, provide feedback, or to discuss lidar, high resolution topography, and cyberinfrastructure.
OpenTopography is happy to announce that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has renewed support for the Facility for another four years.
OpenTopography is a science gateway that provides online access to Earth science oriented high resolution topography data, processing tools, and educational resources to support advancing our understanding of the Earth’s surface, vegetation, and built environment.
Six new NCALM (National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping) datasets covering portions of California, Colorado, Louisiana, and Wyoming are now available from OpenTopography. NCALM is an NSF-funded center that supports the use of airborne laser mapping technology (a.k.a. lidar) in the scientific community and is jointly operated by the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston and the Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley.
