Data Management Plan

Product: These lidar data are processed classified LAS 1.4 files, formatted to 4,597 (Franklin and St. Lawrence) and1351 (Oneida Sub-Basin) individual 1,500-meter x 1,500-meter tiles; used to create intensity images, 3D breaklines, hydro-flattened DEMs, and contours as necessary.

Geographic Extent: Seven counties in New York. East Zone AOI is Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties, Central Zone AOI is Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties.

Dataset Description: New York FEMA 2016 QL2 Lidar project called for the planning, acquisition, processing, and derivative products of lidar data to be collected at a nominal pulse spacing (NPS) of 0.7 meters. Project specifications are based on the U.S. Geological Survey National Geospatial Program Base Lidar Specification, Version 1.2. Lidar data was delivered as flightline-extent unclassified LAS swaths, as processed classified LAS 1.4 files formatted to 4,597 individual 1,500-meter x 1,500-meter tiles, as tiled intensity imagery, and as tiled bare earth DEMs; all tiled to the same 1,500-meter x 1,500-meter schema. Continuous breaklines were produced in Esri file geodatabase format. Contours with a 1-foot interval were produced in Esri file geodatabase format, tiled to the same 1,500-meter x 1,500-meter schema.

Ground Conditions: Lidar was collected in winter/spring of 2016/2017, while no snow was on the ground and rivers were at or below normal levels. In order to post process the lidar data to meet task order specifications and meet ASPRS vertical accuracy guidelines, Quantum Spatial, Inc. established a total of 76 ground control points that were used to calibrate the lidar to known ground locations established throughout the New York East Zone (Franklin and St. Lawrence Counties) project area. An additional 71 independent accuracy checkpoints, 71 in Bare Earth and Urban landcovers (59 NVA points), 59 in Forested, Brushland/Trees, and Tall Weeds/Crops categories (59 VVA points), were used to assess the vertical accuracy of the data. Quantum Spatial, Inc. established a total of 30 ground control points that were used to calibrate the lidar to known ground locations established throughout the New York Central Zone (Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties) project area. An additional 64 independent accuracy checkpoints, 41 in Bare Earth and Urban landcovers (41NVA points), 23 in Forested, Brushland/Trees, and Tall Weeds/Crops categories (25 VVA points), were used to assess the vertical accuracy of the data. These checkpoints were not used to calibrate or post process the data.

The NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) downloaded the 4597 las files from the New York State GIS site. The data for Frankin and St. Lawrence Counties were downloaded from this URL: ftp://ftp.gis.ny.gov/elevation/LIDAR/FEMA_FranklinStLawrence2016/. The data for the Oneida Sub-Basin area (1351 laz files) were downloaded from the USGS ftp site: ftp://rockyftp.cr.usgs.gov/vdelivery/Datasets/Staged/Elevation/LPC/Projects/USGS_LPC_NY_FEMA_R2_B1_2016_LAS_2018/laz/. The data were processed to the Data Access Viewer (DAV) and https. In addition to these lidar point data, the hydro breaklines and the bare earth Digital Elevation Models (DEM) created from the lidar point data are also available. These data are available for custom download at the link provided in the URL section of this metadata record.

Lineage Statement:
Data were collected and processed by Quantum Spatial, Inc. for FEMA. The data were downloaded from the New York State GIS ftp site and the USGS ftp site by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) where the data were processed to make it available for custom download from the Data Access Viewer (DAV) and bulk download from https.

Process Steps:

• 2017-01-01 00:00:00 - LAS Point Classification: The point classification is performed as described below. The bare earth surface is then manually reviewed to ensure correct classification on the Class 2 (Ground) points. After the bare-earth surface is finalized, it is then used to generate all hydro-breaklines through heads-up digitization. All ground (ASPRS Class 2) lidar data inside of the Lake Pond and Double Line Drain hydro-flattened breaklines were then classified to Water (ASPRS Class 9) using TerraScan macro functionality. A buffer of 1 meter was also used around each hydro-flattened feature to classify these ground (ASPRS Class 2) points to Ignored ground (ASPRS Class 10). All Lake Pond Island and Double Line Drain Island features were checked to ensure that the ground (ASPRS Class 2) points were reclassified to the correct classification after the automated classification was completed. All overlap data was processed through automated functionality provided by TerraScan to classify the overlapping flight line data to approved classes by USGS. The overlap data was classified using standard LAS overlap bit. These classes were created through automated processes only and were not verified for classification accuracy. Due to software limitations within TerraScan, these classes were used to trip the withheld bit within various software packages. These processes were reviewed and accepted by USGS through numerous conference calls and pilot study areas. All data was manually reviewed and any remaining artifacts removed using functionality provided by TerraScan and TerraModeler. Global Mapper us used as a final check of the bare earth dataset. GeoCue was then used to create the deliverable industry-standard LAS files for both the All Point Cloud Data and the Bare Earth. Quantum Spatial, Inc. proprietary software was used to perform final statistical analysis of the classes in the LAS files, on a per tile level to verify final classification metrics and full LAS header information.
• 2021-06-09 00:00:00 - The NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) downloaded 4597 las files from ftp://ftp.gis.ny.gov/elevation/LIDAR/FEMA_FranklinStLawrence2016/. The data were in NY State Plane East (NAD83 2011), meters coordinates and NAVD88 (Geoid12B) elevations in meters. The data were classified as: 1 - Unclassified, 2 - Ground, 7 - Low Noise, 9 - Water,10 - Ignored Ground, 17 - Bridge Decks. OCM processed all classifications of points to the Digital Coast Data Access Viewer (DAV). Classes available on the DAV are: 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 17. OCM performed the following processing on the data for Digital Coast storage and provisioning purposes: 1. The las files were converted from las format to laz format using laszip. 2. Internal OCM scripts were run to check the number of points by classification and by flight ID and the gps, elevation, and intensity ranges. 3. Internal OCM scripts were run on the laz files to: a. Convert from orthometric (NAVD88) elevations to ellipsoid elevations using the Geoid12B model b. Convert the laz files from NY State Plane East (NAD83 2011), meters coordinates to geographic coordinates c. Filter points outside the elevation range of 0 to 2000 meters d. Filter points outside the geographic range of the bounding coordinates of -76, 44, -73, 46 degrees e. Assign the geokeys, sort the data by gps time and zip the data to database and to http.
• 2021-06-28 00:00:00 - The NOAA Office for Coastal Management (OCM) downloaded 1351 laz files from ftp://rockyftp.cr.usgs.gov/vdelivery/Datasets/Staged/Elevation/LPC/Projects/USGS_LPC_NY_FEMA_R2_B1_2016_LAS_2018/laz/. These files make up the Oneida Sub-Basin portion (Central Zone) of the data set. The data were in NY State Plane Central (NAD83 2011), meters coordinates and NAVD88 (Geoid12B) elevations in meters. The data were classified as: 1 - Unclassified, 2 - Ground, 7 - Low Noise, 9 - Water,10 - Ignored Ground, 17 - Bridge Decks. OCM processed all classifications of points to the Digital Coast Data Access Viewer (DAV). Classes available on the DAV are: 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 17. OCM performed the following processing on the data for Digital Coast storage and provisioning purposes: 1. Internal OCM scripts were run to check the number of points by classification and by flight ID and the gps, elevation, and intensity ranges. 2. Internal OCM scripts were run on the laz files to: a. Convert from orthometric (NAVD88) elevations to ellipsoid elevations using the Geoid12B model b. Convert the laz files from NY State Plane Central (NAD83 2011), meters coordinates to geographic coordinates c. Filter points outside the elevation range of 0 to 1000 meters d. Filter points outside the geographic range of the bounding coordinates of -76.5, 42.5, -75, 44 degrees e. Remove parts of the USGS file names for conciseness, maintaining the integral parts of the file name. f. Assign the geokeys, sort the data by gps time and zip the data to database and to http.

Data is available online for bulk and custom downloads.

Data is backed up to tape and to cloud storage.