The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) contracted with Hawaii-based Aerial Surveying, Inc. to collect lidar-derived elevation data over the low-lying areas within the northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) during the summer of 2010. A separate contract issued to Aerial Surveying, Inc. by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funded the lidar data processing and elevation data product development phases of the project. Lidar data provide high resolution digital elevation models that are used for many applications, including but not limited to sea level rise modeling, habitat assessments, and tsunami inundation modeling. In April 2011, NOAA Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument and NOAA Office for Coastal Management deployed a survey crew to the NWHI to collect high accuracy point data to validate the 2010 lidar data. The survey crew used survey-grade Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to collect high accuracy elevation points.

  This metadata covers the information for Laysan Island.

  This dataset contains lidar point clouds in LAS 1.2 format, classified in the following ASPRS standards as Class 1: Unclassified, Class 2: Ground, and Class 9: Water.

  The following are the equipment used to create the lidar data sets.

  Aircraft: Beechcraft Queen Air
  Lidar Systems: Riegl 140 and 240

  Accuracy statements are based on areas of open terrain, with points classified as ground. The accuracy of each point is expected to meet the vertical accuracy standard, derived products may be less accurate in areas of extreme terrain and dense vegetation due to a lesser number of points defining the ground in these areas.

  Classified data sets such as this one may have varying posting due to some pulses not reaching the ground.

  This work was conducted under permit number PMNM-2010-033 as approved by NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the State of Hawaii, and acknowledged by Dr. Charles L. Littnan of NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center.

Original contact information: Contact Name: Lidar Manager Contact Org: Aerial Surveying Inc. Title: Lidar Manager Phone: (808) 327-9439