Trends Winter 2019 | Page 15

Digital surface model (DSM) of Madison, Wisconsin’s state capitol Buildings and hydrographic features extracted from Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin’s lidar STRENGTH IN NUMBERS Terry Dietzel, director of land information in Fond du Lac County, said his interest in a countywide lidar project was piqued after meeting with a group of neighboring counties who were also entertaining the idea. Available grant funding through the 3DEP program sweetened the pot. Digital elevation model (DEM) in Jackson County, Wisconsin “Since our current lidar and contour mapping was only capable of producing 2-foot contours, the thought of obtaining 1-foot contour accuracy countywide, along with other products, was interesting,” Dietzel said. “After meeting with Zach (Nienow) and discussing other derivatives the County could obtain from the data, I decided Fond du Lac should participate with this group.” Fond du Lac is among the counties within the Greater Fox-Wolf Watershed area in the east-central region of the state. Updating their lidar in the same year and to the same specifications ensured the data matched along county boundaries. “From my perspective, the 3DEP funding dollars were important, but more important was the fact that it brought our group of counties together to complete a regional project.” www.AyresAssociates.com 15