During the early spring of 2010, the WI Department of Commerce selected 14 counties in southern Wisconsin to receive a total of approximately $3 million for LiDAR-based elevation data acquisitions in 2010. Later, in the spring of 2011, seven additional counties (Columbia, Crawford, Grant, Jefferson, Rock, Sauk, Waukesha) also received Department of Commerce funds for LiDAR data acquisitions.

Announced in November 2009, the Department of Commerce offered the LiDAR grants through their Community Development Block Grant Emergency Assistance Program (CDBG-EAP). A total of 31 counties were eligible to apply for the funds ultimately aimed at improving floodplain mapping in southern Wisconsin. Eligibility for the program was determined by the 2008 federal disaster declarations for severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding.

The Commerce grant program is significant in that it directly facilitiated the collection of high-resolution elevation data for nearly the entire southern half of Wisconsin. The timing was also noteworthy, as many Wisconsin counties were in the process of acquiring updated imagery through the Wisconsin Regional Orthophotography Consortium in 2010. This allowed many of the awarded counties to "piggyback" on their existing imagery acquisition contracts, thereby streamlining the process.

Acquisitions and data processing for the LiDAR is being stretched over a three year period. Once complete, all of the elevation data collected will be considered public domain.

As of July 2011, the specifics of the data availability, formats, and other details have not yet been announced. Watch this "hot topics" page for more information as it becomes available.

Planned LiDAR Acquisitions - Timeline

Source: Ayres Associates - April 2012