News
Oct 19, 2025
OpenTopography is honored to receive the 2025 Geological Society of America President's Medal.
Citation by GSA President Nathan Niemi:
The Geological Society of America awards the 2025 President’s Medal to OpenTopography, recognizing its transformative impact on the geosciences. Launched in 2008, OpenTopography has revolutionized access to high-resolution topographic data by making it freely available to researchers, educators, engineers, planners, and the public. This initiative has advanced Earth science by facilitating research in geomorphology, tectonics, hydrology, and environmental... more
Oct 14, 2025
Connect with OpenTopography at the 2025 Geological Society of America meeting in San Antonio, TX, October 19-22!
OpenTopography will be in booth #809 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.
Exhibit hall hours are: Sunday, 19 Oct.: 4:30 – 7 p.m., Monday, 20 Oct.: 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, 21 Oct.: 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., and Wednesday, 22 Oct.: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
We'll also be giving away the always popular I heart lidar stickers.... more
Oct 13, 2025
OpenTopography services may be intermittently unavailable from 11 AM to 12 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 14, during system updates. Thank you for your patience.
Sep 30, 2025
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 a variety of sources including the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), NOAA Coastal Lidar, Natural Resources Canada, Polar Geospatial Center, and many more. Below are highlights of datasets that became available or were updated on the OpenTopography platform in September 2025.
A. Location of new LINZ dataset in red in New Zealand. B. Location of new NOAA datasets in Alaska in blue. C. Location... more
Sep 9, 2025
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 a variety of sources including the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), NOAA Coastal Lidar, Natural Resources Canada, Polar Geospatial Center, and many more. Below are highlights of datasets that became available or were updated on the OpenTopography platform in August 2025.
Left hand panel shows the location of existing USGS 3DEP 1 meter coverage (gray), and areas where new 1 meter data were... more
Sep 8, 2025
OpenTopography-hosted high-resolution raster topography datasets have been selected for integration into the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot Program. The goal of the NAIRR Pilot is to give researchers access to high-quality datasets that support the advancement of AI literacy, education, and innovation. Dataset selection was conducted through a competitive process led by NSF in collaboration with an interagency working group representing twelve federal agencies.
OpenTopography curates and provides open, citable topographic... more
Aug 11, 2025
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 a variety of sources including the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), NOAA Coastal Lidar, Natural Resources Canada, Polar Geospatial Center, and many more. Below are highlights of datasets that became available on the OpenTopography platform in July 2025.
Left hand panel shows the location of new LINZ data near Auckland, New Zealand and over the Southern Alps. The central panel shows the... more
Jul 21, 2025
We are excited to announce a major expansion of OpenTopography's international data catalog with the addition of the High Resolution Digital Elevation Model (HRDEM) from Natural Resources Canada.
The HRDEM is part of the CanElevation Series and supports the National Elevation Data Strategy implemented by Natural Resources Canada. OpenTopography now provides on-demand access to the 1-meter, lidar-derived portion of this collection, offering unprecedented detail across much of southern Canada.
Derived from high-precision airborne lidar, this 1-meter resolution dataset is ideal for a wide... more
Jul 2, 2025
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 the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) and NOAA Coastal Lidar. Below are highlights of datasets that became available on the OpenTopography platform in June 2025.
Left hand panel shows the location of new data over Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand. Right hand panel shows the location of a new Community Dataspace dataset in purple on the coast of Lake... more
May 29, 2025
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 the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) and NOAA Coastal Lidar. Below are highlights of datasets that became available on the OpenTopography platform in May 2025.
Left hand panel shows new Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) dataset coverage added in May 2025 in red. Right hand panel shows the location of a new Community Dataspace dataset in... more
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