Bowman was contracted to lead aerial lidar acquisition and processing across multiple southeastern states as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). The project area included over 8,800 square miles in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina—regions impacted by Hurricane Helene. The work was performed in partnership with Merrick & Company, with Bowman leading all aerial acquisition and lidar processing, and Merrick providing project management, ground survey and QA/QC.
3DEP is a federal initiative to produce a national baseline of high-resolution, three-dimensional topographic data to support climate resilience, infrastructure planning, and emergency response. The data collected by Bowman was intended to support agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service in assessing hurricane-impacted areas and informing response, planning and mitigation efforts in regions affected by extreme weather events.
This task order added to Bowman’s history of lidar collection and processing under the USGS Geospatial Products and Services Contract (GPSC4), under which the firm had previously completed over 150,000 square miles of lidar work.