News
Jan 20, 2026
OpenTopography is guided by three advisory committees that represent OpenTopography’s users and ensure that the facility’s activities are aligned with the needs and initiatives of the scientific and educational communities. These volunteer roles are defined in our governance.
We are recruiting new members to serve on the advisory committees:
Research Communities Advisory Committee (2 new members): Provides guidance on feature development, the choice of new datasets, and technical training.
Inclusive Education, Training, and Workforce Development Advisory Committee (1 new member): Advises... more
Jan 5, 2026
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 December 2025.
A. Locations of new USGS 3DEP datasets (green polygons), new NOAA data in northern California (blue marker), new... more
Dec 8, 2025
Connect with OpenTopography at the 2025 American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans, LA! OpenTopography will be in booth #908 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: Monday, 15 December, 3:00 P.M.–6:00 P.M., Tuesday–Wednesday, 16–17 December, 10:00 A.M.–6:00 P.M. Thursday, 12 December, 10 A.M.–1:00 P.M.
We'll also be giving away the always popular I heart lidar stickers. Please stop by and say hi!... more
Dec 3, 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 November 2025.
Location of new USGS 3DEP datasets in California (green polygons), new NOAA data in northern Ohio (blue polygon), and a... more
Nov 3, 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 October 2025.
A. Location of new USGS 3DEP in red, and new Community Data Space in purple. B. Location of existing 1 meter DEMs over... more
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
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