LiDAR coverage
Does public LiDAR cover the field? Draw it and you'll know in a minute.
In 16 countries Geo-Surface loads the national LiDAR for any boundary you draw, so the surface drainage, tile or land forming (Beta) plan can start before anyone books a survey. The Viewer is the quick check: if the terrain loads there, Geo-Surface Pro has the same ground.
Supported regions
Sixteen countries where the LiDAR comes to you
In each country below, Geo-Surface Pro loads the national LiDAR for the boundary you draw. Open one to see where the elevation comes from, how fine it is, how much of the country it covers, and its map.
The maps give you the lay of the land. For a yes or no on one field, draw it in the Viewer: if the terrain loads there, Geo-Surface Pro loads the same data.
North America
- Elevation source
- USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), the US national LiDAR program
- Resolution
- 1 m LiDAR wherever a project is published, which is most farmland. Elsewhere the 10 m national model, and the app tells you when that's all there is.
- Coverage
- Near-complete across the lower 48 and still growing. The map shades published 1 m and 3 m LiDAR.
- Units
- US customary (decimal feet), or metric
- Soil and rainfall
- Measured soil survey data (USDA SSURGO) is built in. Design rainfall is entered by hand.
- Credit and licence
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program (public domain)
- Elevation source
- Natural Resources Canada high-resolution DEM (HRDEM, CanElevation)
- Resolution
- 1 m LiDAR where published
- Coverage
- Where the map is shaded: mostly the settled farming areas, with more every year. Outside it, bring your own RTK survey as points or a GeoTIFF.
- Units
- Starts in decimal feet, like the US; metric is one setting away
- Soil and rainfall
- Provincial soil surveys (soil series, drainage class and layers) in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and the national Soil Landscapes of Canada map in the other provinces. Environment Canada design rainfall is built in.
- Credit and licence
- Natural Resources Canada, Open Government Licence – Canada
Outside the US and Canada, every country starts in metric (feet are one setting away), soil comes from the global 250 m SoilGrids map, a coarse estimate, so get the field's own soil information before big decisions, and design rainfall is entered by hand. The app is in English.
Europe
- Elevation source
- Environment Agency LiDAR (England); Scottish Remote Sensing Portal LiDAR (Scotland)
- Resolution
- 1 m in England; 0.5 to 1 m in Scotland where published
- Coverage
- About 99% of England. Scotland only where its LiDAR programme has been published so far (it is growing). Wales and Northern Ireland are not covered yet: bring your own elevation there.
- Credit and licence
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. England: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2022, all rights reserved. Scotland: Crown copyright Scottish Government, SEPA and Fugro.
- Elevation source
- AHN, the Dutch national elevation survey (via PDOK)
- Resolution
- 0.5 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- The whole country.
- Credit and licence
- AHN (Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland), Rijkswaterstaat / Het Waterschapshuis, via PDOK (CC0, public domain)
- Elevation source
- Digital Elevation Model of Flanders II (DHMV II), Digitaal Vlaanderen
- Resolution
- 1 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- Flanders and Brussels. Wallonia is not covered yet: bring your own elevation there.
- Credit and licence
- Digitaal Hoogtemodel Vlaanderen II, DTM 1 m – © Digitaal Vlaanderen (Modellicentie gratis hergebruik, the Flemish free reuse licence)
- Elevation source
- Geobasis NRW DGM1, the state terrain model from airborne LiDAR
- Resolution
- 1 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- All of North Rhine-Westphalia. Other German states are not covered yet: bring your own elevation there.
- Credit and licence
- © Geobasis NRW (Datenlizenz Deutschland – Zero – Version 2.0, dl-de/zero-2.0)
- Elevation source
- IGN LiDAR HD, with IGN RGE ALTI 1 m where LiDAR HD is not published yet
- Resolution
- 0.5 m LiDAR HD; 1 m RGE ALTI in the gaps
- Coverage
- Mainland France and Corsica. The new LiDAR HD survey is still being published, so some areas use the 1 m RGE ALTI model for now.
- Credit and licence
- IGN – LiDAR HD (MNT) and RGE ALTI® 1 m, Géoplateforme; Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab)
- Elevation source
- swisstopo swissALTI3D
- Resolution
- 0.5 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- The whole country.
- Credit and licence
- © swisstopo (Federal Office of Topography), swissALTI3D, under the swisstopo terms of use for free geodata
- Elevation source
- ČÚZK DMR 5G, the national terrain model from airborne LiDAR
- Resolution
- 2 m grid
- Coverage
- The whole country.
- Credit and licence
- © ČÚZK (Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre), DMR 5G, CC BY 4.0
- Elevation source
- Danish Elevation Model DHM/Terrain (Klimadatastyrelsen)
- Resolution
- 0.4 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- The whole country.
- Credit and licence
- Indeholder data fra Klimadatastyrelsen, Danmarks Højdemodel – DHM/Terræn (contains data from the Danish Agency for Climate Data, Danish Elevation Model DHM/Terrain), under the Danish free geographic data terms
- Elevation source
- Kartverket national terrain model (DTM1)
- Resolution
- 1 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- The whole mainland.
- Credit and licence
- © Kartverket (Høydedata DTM1), CC BY 4.0
- Elevation source
- National Land Survey of Finland 2 m elevation model
- Resolution
- 2 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- The whole country.
- Credit and licence
- Contains data from the National Land Survey of Finland Elevation model 2 m (hosted by CSC GeoCubes), CC BY 4.0
- Elevation source
- Maa- ja Ruumiamet (Estonian Land and Spatial Development Board) LiDAR terrain model
- Resolution
- 1 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- The whole country.
- Credit and licence
- Elevation data, Republic of Estonia Land and Spatial Development Board (Maa- ja Ruumiamet), under its open data licence
- Elevation source
- Lantmäteriet national terrain model (Markhöjdmodell)
- Resolution
- 1 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- The whole country.
- Credit and licence
- © Lantmäteriet, Markhöjdmodell 1 m, under Lantmäteriet’s terms of use for high-value datasets
Australia and New Zealand
- Elevation source
- LINZ (Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand) national 1 m LiDAR DEM
- Resolution
- 1 m LiDAR
- Coverage
- Where the map is shaded. Outside it, bring your own elevation.
- Credit and licence
- Elevation sourced from the LINZ Data Service (New Zealand LiDAR 1 m DEM), CC BY 4.0
- Elevation source
- Geoscience Australia 5 m elevation model derived from LiDAR
- Resolution
- 5 m (coarse)
- Coverage
- The coastal zone, the Murray-Darling floodplains and towns, where the map is shaded; some key irrigation districts are missing. Coarse 5 m elevation: fine for surface drainage planning and a first look, too coarse for tile design. For tile, upload your own RTK survey or 1 m LiDAR.
- Credit and licence
- © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia), Digital Elevation Model of Australia derived from LiDAR 5 Metre Grid, CC BY 4.0
Anywhere else
- Elevation source
- Your own data. The International region has no built-in LiDAR download: load a GeoTIFF elevation model, import RTK or other survey points, or import an existing design, and every design, report and export works on that surface.
- Resolution
- Whatever your data has. A 1 m model or a dense RTK survey is what tile design needs.
- Coverage
- Anywhere in the world, including places not listed above, such as Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Wallonia and the rest of Germany.
- Credit and licence
- Your data stays yours, in a project folder on your own computer.
Plan and design from LiDAR. Survey and grade with RTK when the job goes ahead. Don't see your country? Tell us where you work.
How good it is
1 m LiDAR is enough to plan the whole job
Where 1 m LiDAR is published, it shows where water sits and where it runs, well enough to size a tile layout or draw up a first land forming (Beta) plan on a straightforward field. That gets the plan and the quote done before anyone books a survey. It isn't a survey, though: it was flown some years ago, so check the ground with RTK before you install.
Surface drainage
See the depressions and the flow paths across the whole field, then design the ditches and inlets that clear them.
Tile drainage
Lay out the mains and laterals, size the pipe and check every run's depth and grade on the same ground.
Land forming (Beta)
Pick the edges water may leave by, set the largest cut and let it solve the grade on a straightforward field.
No LiDAR for the field?
Bring your own elevation and every tool works the same
Some fields sit outside public LiDAR, and sometimes you already have better data. Import it and it becomes the ground every tool designs on.
- A GeoTIFF elevation model from a survey or a data provider
- RTK, XYZ or CSV survey points, turned into a surface for you
- A point shapefile or an AGS survey file
Check your data reads the file the way Geo-Surface Pro does, in your browser. No account, and nothing is uploaded.
Questions about coverage
Does public LiDAR cover my field?
In the US, very likely: 1 m LiDAR covers most farmland in the lower 48. Elsewhere, open the country above to see its map. For a sure answer on one field, draw it in the Viewer. If the terrain loads, Geo-Surface Pro loads the same data.
What if there's no LiDAR for my field?
Bring your own: a GeoTIFF, survey points, a point shapefile or an AGS file. It becomes the ground every tool works on, for surface drainage, tile and land forming (Beta) alike. Not sure the file will work? Check your data reads it the way Geo-Surface Pro does, with no account and nothing uploaded.
Is public LiDAR good enough for drainage design?
For the plan, the design and the quote, yes, where it's 1 m. It shows the depressions and flow paths and gives you grades to plan tile and land forming (Beta) with. It was flown some years ago and it isn't a survey, so check the ground with RTK before you install.
Does the elevation cost extra?
No. The LiDAR in every supported country comes with the membership, for any number of fields and acres, with no per-acre fees.
Ready when the field is
Covered? Then design every field on one membership.
Draw a real field in the Viewer and watch the terrain load. If it does, Geo-Surface Pro designs the surface drainage, the tile and the land forming (Beta) on that same ground, for as many fields and acres as you like.
Plan and design from LiDAR. Survey and grade with RTK when the job goes ahead.
Try the full Geo-Surface Pro free for 7 days, no card needed. Then US$799 a year. See plans and pricing.