Baseline Specifications for LiDAR and Orthophotography

Florida Division of Emergency Management, several state and federal agencies, Water Management Districts, and several other critical stakeholders have initiated an effort to develop baseline specifications for LiDAR and orthophotography to be used for all projects flown in the State of Florida. Starting with specifications from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), baseline specifications intended to ensure that data acquired will provide a seamless statewide dataset for use by the broadest number of stakeholders are available for review and use.

Unified Mapping Grid

To provide a common means of defining project areas and organizing deliverables of orthophotography, LiDAR and other mapping projects, a unified mapping grid for Florida was created. This grid provides a means to communicate proposed project footprints, manage deliverables, and improve the coordination of projects between various state, regional and local governments.

The grid represents 5,000' by 5,000' cells aligned on even multiples of 5000' State Plane Northings and Eastings with overlapping cells found at State zone junctions, as these tiles may be collected in one zone or the other dependent upon the actual data collection effort. A unique identifier for each tile following the original grids, plus a State Plane zone descriptor, and square mile calculations are also included.