An Evaluation of LIDAR Accuracy for Three West Virginia Watersheds

Michael Shank, TAGIS, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, mshank@mail.dep.state.wv.us

LIDAR data for three small watersheds in West Virginia are compared with extensive land surveys to characterize LIDAR elevation accuracy. Coincident LIDAR and survey points meeting a minimum horizontal separation criteria are compared. The initial comparison is further refined to minimize potential effects of steep slopes. Finally, several grid interpolation techniques are evaluated for accuracy and computational efficiency.