NI 3D Coastal Survey: 2021 Topographic LiDAR Digital Terrain Model

2021 saw a complete airborne LiDAR survey of the Northern Ireland coastline, commissioned as part of the NI 3D Coastal Survey. The resulting Digital Terrain Model provides precise data on current coastal morphology, covering the intertidal area and extending approximately 200 meters landward of the high-water mark. This dataset is available on multiple open data platforms under a permissive license.

Use Cases

• Coastal erosion modeling based on precise topographic elevation data
• Flood risk assessment for areas within 200 meters of the high-water mark
• Habitat mapping and change detection in the intertidal zone
• Infrastructure planning using accurate current coastal morphology

Strengths

• Data is derived from a complete, commissioned airborne LiDAR survey, suggesting systematic coverage
• Provides precise and accurate data of current coastal morphology, as stated in the source descriptions
• Cross-platform presence on eu_open_data and uk_data indicates validation and reuse

Limitations

• Column names and data structure are unknown, limiting immediate analytical use
• Metadata for size, row count, and author is incomplete or conflicting across entries
• The 'last updated' date of 2026-04-15 is inconsistent with the 2021 survey date and may reflect a metadata refresh

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Airborne LiDAR survey

Time Range

2021

Freshness

2026-04-15 14:22:15.768413 (Note: This likely reflects a metadata update, not new data collection)

Geography

Northern Ireland coastline