Ontario Lidar-Derived Bare-Earth Terrain Model

Ontario's bare-earth terrain is represented in this raster dataset derived from classified lidar point clouds. Data is organized into non-overlapping 1-km by 1-km tiles for download. The Government of Ontario compiled this dataset from multiple lidar acquisition projects, with specifications varying by project.

Use Cases

• Model water flow and flood risk using the bare-earth elevation values from the DTM raster tiles.
• Plan infrastructure projects by analyzing terrain slope and aspect derived from the 1-km tile data.
• Conduct environmental impact assessments by integrating the lidar-derived terrain model with other land cover datasets.
• Create base maps for land use planning by processing the DTM to remove vegetation and building artifacts.

Strengths

• Data is organized into standardized 1-km by 1-km non-overlapping tiles for systematic analysis.
• Derived from multiple lidar acquisition projects, providing broad spatial coverage across Ontario.

Limitations

• Specifications, parameters, and sensors vary between source projects, leading to potential inconsistencies.
• The dataset is a compilation, so individual tile resolution and accuracy are not uniform.

Provenance

Source

Government of Ontario | Gouvernement de l'Ontario

Collection Method

Derived from classified lidar point clouds from multiple acquisition projects.

Freshness

Data was last updated on March 25, 2026.

Geography

Ontario, Canada