High Accuracy Elevation Data - Water Conservation Areas and Greater Everglades Region

The High Accuracy Elevation Data Project collected elevation data (meters) on a 400 meter topographic grid with a vertical accuracy of +/- 15 centimeters to define the topography in South Florida. The data are referenced to the horizontal datum North American Datum 1983 (NAD 83) and the vertical datum North American Vertical Datum 1988 (NAVD 88). In some areas, the surveying was accomplished using airboats. Because access was a logistical problem with airboats, the USGS developed a helicopter-based instrument known as the Airborne Height Finder (AHF). All subsequent data collection used the AHF.
Data were collected from the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, south through the Water Conservation Areas (1A, 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B), Big Cypress National Park, the Everglades National Park, to the Florida Bay. The data are available for the areas shown on the USGS High Accuracy Elevation Data graphic at http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/desmond/desmondelev.html. The work was performed for Everglades ecosystem restoration purposes.