Center for LiDAR Information Coordination and Knowledge – LiDAR Point Cloud 
Data 

http://lidar.cr.usgs.gov/index.php 

Program Highlights 

Data Highlights 

• Provides information about discrete-return Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), including 
information and download capability for publicly available LiDAR and the ability to look for 
articles and other Web sites about LiDAR. 


Advantages 

• LiDAR data available from CLICK are in native format. 
• Point cloud data maintain the most detail and precision 


Disadvantages 

• Datasets are large. 
• Not as easy to work with as gridded data available through the NED. 


Program Overview 

The goal of the Center for LiDAR Information Coordination and Knowledge (CLICK) is to facilitate data 
access, user coordination, and education of LiDAR remote sensing for scientific needs. The program 
responds to the increasing demand for research utilizing all information generated from LiDAR remote 
sensing data and not just bare earth Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). 

CLICK focuses on managing point cloud data, not necessarily bare earth data. However, many of the 
point clouds may be classified to indicate bare earth points. 

Data Details 

LiDAR point cloud data available through the site are provided “As Is,” with varying processing and 
accuracy. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is not responsible for bare earth processing, populating 
fields other than xyz, or validating reported vertical and horizontal accuracies. 

Data Applicability to Flood Mapping Program 

Federal Emergency Management Agency Guidelines and Standards for Flood Risk Analysis and 
Mapping, provides the specifications for elevation data for Risk Mapping Assessment, and Planning (Risk 
MAP) projects. Most LiDAR data will satisfy these data standards, and thus can be used on most Risk 
MAP projects. Some older datasets were provided without, or with very limited, metadata. These may or 
may not provide reliable accuracy statements. Most newer and current datasets include documentation of 
the tested accuracy of the dataset. 

Data Availability 

See viewer at http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ .Data Ordering 

See viewer at http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/.