LIDAR repositories

[IanMurray]

Just making a discussion thread where information on LIDAR repositories can be found online.  One quite beneficial one when trying to determine if there is LIDAR coverage of an area is the NOAA hosted United State Interagency Elevation Inventory.

United States Interagency Elevation Inventory

This resources shows where known LIDAR has been flown, who manages the data, information about the data accuracy, and contact information or links for download of the LIDAR data.

If you know of other good resources for LIDAR data, please feel free to add to this discussion.‌

[IanMurray]

Also would like to mention that the United States Interagency Elevation Inventory contains bathymetric LIDAR, bathymetric surveys, and IFSAR data as well.

[IanMurray]

NSF OpenTopography Facility | Home‌

Another good resources for LIDAR data, does not cover as much area as the NOAA repository, but most of the data on the site should be directly downloadable, as opposed to having to inquire with an independent agency about receiving the data.

In addition, there are free tools available for processing and viewing LIDAR data, some of which can be integrated directly into ArcGIS, some are standalone.

Site is supported by the NSF, Arizona State University, and University of California San Diego.

[IanMurray]

Continuing to update here.

Found a good resource for direct LiDAR laz file downloads, based on the data shown on the USIEI.  NOAA has a data viewer for project on which they host the LiDAR data and it can be downloaded by a custom bounding box.

Digital Coast Data Access Viewer

Additionally I think its worth mentioning that processed DEM's from NOAA and other federal agency products are available from the USDA NRCS Geospatial Portal.

https://gdg.sc.egov.usda.gov/

I believe its worth mentioning that you have the option on the sidebar to select a custom AOI for data, that way you aren't downloading an entire counties worth of data if you don't have to.  Saves alot of time on the download, and of course the data is free if you download through the FTP.

Personally I find these two sources much better for high resolution terrain data than EarthExplorer or the NationalMap, both hosted in conjunction with the USGS.