LIDAR Composite DSM 2020: 2m Resolution Elevation Model for England

A LIDAR Composite Digital Surface Model (DSM) provides raster elevation data for over 93% of England at a 2-meter spatial resolution. Produced by the Environment Agency in 2020, it merges data from the Time Stamped archive and National LIDAR Programme, with surveys conducted between June 2000 and September 2020. The DSM includes heights of objects like buildings and vegetation, has a vertical accuracy of +/-15cm RMSE, and is referenced to the Ordnance Survey Newlyn datum.

Use Cases

• Modeling urban infrastructure and building heights based on the DSM's inclusion of object elevations.
• Analyzing vegetation canopy structure and forest biomass using the last-return LIDAR signal data.
• Creating flood risk and hydrological models based on the high-resolution terrain surface data.
• Generating 3D visualizations and tinted shaded relief maps for landscape analysis.

Strengths

• Covers over 93% of England, providing extensive national coverage.
• Offers high 2-meter spatial resolution and a vertical accuracy of +/-15cm RMSE.
• Integrates the best available data from multiple surveys conducted over a 20-year period.

Limitations

• The dataset has been retired, indicating it is not the current version.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data structure and file formats require manual inspection after download.
• Row count and specific column-level documentation are absent, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency, United Kingdom.

Collection Method

Derived from airborne LIDAR surveys, merged and resampled from Time Stamped archive and National LIDAR Programme data.

Time Range

Surveys undertaken between 6th June 2000 and 1st September 2020.

Freshness

The composite data is from 2020, but the dataset listing is retired; freshness is unverified.

Geography

England.