3D Elevation Program supports broadband internet access

Abstract

Broadband, which is a high-speed, always-on internet connection, is critical to the modern economy and education, as well as to healthcare, public safety, government services, entertainment, and more. However, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), millions of Americans in rural parts of the country currently lack access to broadband. Federal and State agencies have launched initiatives to enhance broadband access in rural America. High-resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) data can play a role in improving maps of broadband accessibility and helping to strengthen the broadband communications network. Lidar underpins signal propagation analyses to determine where broadband signals from communication towers can and cannot reach across the landscape and can be used to determine optimal siting of new towers and cell stations to increase broadband coverage. The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP; see sidebar) is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey in partnership with Federal, State, Tribal, U.S. territorial, and local agencies to acquire consistent lidar coverage for the Nation. Lidar provides high-resolution, very accurate three-dimensional (3D) data representations of constructed and natural features on the Earth’s surface. Bare-earth and digital surface models derived from lidar are used in viewshed analyses for signal propagation studies necessary to identify the optimum locations for cell tower and cell station networks. Viewshed analysis, also known as line-of-sight analysis, determines the visibility of objects or areas from different points of view, such as from the top of a transmission tower (fig. 1). Objects such as buildings, hills, and other features (referred to as clutter in the communications industry) can attenuate or block signals, which reduces the coverage area of a broadband signal transmitter.