Outer Hebrides Lidar Digital Surface Model at 50cm Resolution, 2019

A 2019 lidar survey commissioned by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) covers approximately 1705 km² of the Outer Hebrides. The aerial survey was conducted by Bluesky International Ltd. between June and September, capturing point cloud data at 4 points per square metre. This dataset reflects the 50 cm resolution Digital Surface Model (DSM) produced from that data, processed using the OSGM15 geoid model and OSTN15 transformation.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal flood risk based on high-resolution topographic data.
• Assessing surface water flood risk using detailed elevation information.
• Creating base maps for environmental planning and land use studies.
• Calibrating or validating hydrological models with precise terrain data.

Strengths

• Survey accuracy is supported by 11 ground control areas with RMSE values ranging from 0.020m to 0.097m.
• Covers a substantial area of approximately 1705 km², including some zones captured at a higher 25 cm resolution.
• Data collection followed a defined methodology using specific geoid and transformation models (OSGM15, OSTN15).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the 2019 survey period and specific location.

Provenance

Source

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), collected by Bluesky International Ltd.

Collection Method

Aerial lidar survey capturing point cloud data at 4 points per square metre.

Time Range

Survey conducted between June and September 2019.

Freshness

Data reflects a survey conducted in 2019; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Outer Hebrides, Scotland, covering approximately 1705 km².