USIEI: U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory with Quarterly Updates

The U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI) is a nationwide listing of known high-accuracy topographic and bathymetric data, including lidar, IfSAR, and hydrographic surveys. It is a collaborative effort between NOAA, USGS, FEMA, USDA, and other federal agencies. The inventory provides attribute information and footprints for data sets, updated quarterly, but does not include the raw elevation data itself.

Use Cases

• Identify suitable elevation data sources for a project based on attributes like vertical accuracy and point spacing.
• Plan data acquisition by analyzing the spatial coverage and collection dates of existing datasets.
• Facilitate interagency coordination by using the standardized inventory of federal topographic and bathymetric data.

Strengths

• Collaborative project involving multiple authoritative federal agencies including NOAA and USGS.
• Inventory is updated quarterly, suggesting ongoing maintenance.
• Provides specific attributes for each dataset, such as vertical accuracy, point spacing, and date of collection.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Footprints are generalized; exact data coverage requires contacting the data provider.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, in collaboration with USGS, FEMA, USDA, and other federal agencies.

Collection Method

Compiled inventory from collaborative interagency efforts.

Time Range

Collection dates are provided as an attribute per dataset; overall inventory temporal coverage is not specified.

Freshness

Updated quarterly; last metadata update was 2026-03 13.

Geography

United States and its territories.