LiDAR for Scotland Phase 4: Digital Surface Model Covering 17,945 km²

Scotland's LiDAR Phase 4 Digital Surface Model covers 17,945 square kilometres, though it does not provide full national coverage. The Scottish Government procured this dataset for public use in 2020 after it was initially captured by Fugro for Scottish Power Energy Networks from 2017 to 2019. The DSM was produced from point cloud data to monitor overhead power cable networks.

Use Cases

• Modeling terrain and surface features for infrastructure planning based on the DSM data.
• Monitoring vegetation encroachment near power lines based on the dataset's original purpose for asset management.
• Conducting change detection analysis over time using the 2017-2019 capture period.
• Creating base maps for hydrological or flood risk modeling based on the high-resolution surface model.

Strengths

• Covers a substantial area of 17,945 square kilometres.
• Has a defined temporal origin, captured between 2017 and 2019.
• Originates from a specific procurement and capture program with a stated purpose for power network monitoring.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality, resolution, and file formats require manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset explicitly notes it does not have full national coverage, limiting geographic scope.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Captured by Fugro using LiDAR, processed into a Digital Surface Model from point cloud data.

Time Range

2017 to 2019

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Scotland, covering 17,945 km² (partial national coverage)