AHN4 DTM: Netherlands Digital Terrain Model at 0.5m Resolution

2020-2022 data collected via airborne laser altimetry provides a detailed ground-level elevation map for the entire Netherlands. The dataset is a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) with a 0.5-meter resolution, derived from point clouds classified as 'ground' and excludes objects like buildings and trees. It is produced by the Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties in collaboration with Dutch provinces, the national government, and water boards.

Use Cases

• Hydrological and flood risk modeling based on precise ground-level elevation data.
• Civil engineering and infrastructure planning based on the detailed terrain model.
• Environmental change detection and landscape analysis based on the high-resolution DTM.
• Creating base layers for 3D visualizations and simulations based on the classified ground points.

Strengths

• High spatial resolution of 0.5 meters per grid cell.
• Derived from a minimum of 10 laser altimetry measurements per square meter.
• Covers the entire land area of the Netherlands.
• Explicitly excludes non-ground objects (buildings, trees) for a pure terrain model.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Row count and total file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties, in collaboration with Dutch provinces, the national government, and water boards.

Collection Method

Airborne laser altimetry (LiDAR) scanning, with points classified as 'ground' and converted to a grid using a Squared Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method.

Time Range

2020-2022

Freshness

Data collected for years 2020, 2021, and 2022. Last platform update date is unknown.

Geography

The Netherlands