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NOAA Office for Coastal Management Coastal Digital Elevation Model: Lake Erie

Published by Office for Coastal Management | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: February 07, 2026 | Last Modified: 2017-07-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
These data were created as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's efforts to create an online mapping viewer called the NOAA Lake Level Viewer. It depicts potential lake level rise and fall and its associated impacts on the nation's coastal areas. The purpose of the mapping viewer is to provide coastal managers and scientists with a preliminary look at lake level change, coastal flooding impacts, and exposed lakeshore. The viewer is a screening-level tool that uses nationally consistent data sets and analyses. Data and maps provided can be used at several scales to help gauge trends and prioritize actions for different scenarios. The NOAA Lake Level Viewer may be accessed at: https://coast.noaa.gov/llv. This metadata record describes the Lake Erie digital elevation model (DEM), which is a part of a series of DEMs produced for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office for Coastal Management's Lake Level Viewer described above. This DEM includes the best available lidar and US Army Corps of Engineer dredge survey data known to exist at the time of DEM creation that met project specifications. This DEM includes data for Monroe and Wayne Counties in Michigan; Chautauqua and Erie Counties in New York; Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Lake, Lorain, Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Wood Counties in Ohio; and Erie County in Pennsylvania. The DEM was produced from the following lidar data sets: 1. 2011 - 2012 USACE NCMP Topobathy Lidar: Lake Erie (MI, NY, OH, PA) 2. 2011 USACE NCMP Topobathy Lidar: MI/NY Great Lakes 3. 2008 FEMA Lidar: Erie County, NY 4. 2007 USACE NCMP Topobathy Lidar: Lake Erie (Erie County, PA) and Lake Michigan (Manitou Islands) (MI, PA) 5. 2007 USACE NCMP Topobathy Lidar: Lake Erie (NY Shoreline) 6. 2006 USACE NCMP Topobathy Lidar: Lake Erie (OH, PA), Lake Huron (MI) and Lake Michigan (Porter County, IN) 7. 2007 Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR) Statewide Lidar 8. 2006 Ohio Statewide Imagery Program (OSIP) Lidar: North The DEM was produced from the following sonar data sets: 9. 2015 USACE Detroit District; Detroit River, MI; Livingstone Channel Reach 10. 2015 USACE Buffalo District, Ashtabula Harbor, OH 11. 2015 USACE Buffalo District, Erie Harbor, PA 12. 2015 USACE Buffalo District, Fairport Harbor, OH 13. 2015 USACE Buffalo District, Rocky River, OH 14. 2013 USACE Buffalo District; Buffalo Harbor, NY; Buffalo River and Ship Canal 15. 2014 USACE Detroit District, Point Mouillee, MI 16. 2014 USACE Buffalo District, Conneaut Harbor, OH 17. 2014 USACE Buffalo District, Dunkirk Harbor, NY 18. 2014 USACE Buffalo District, Niagara River, NY 19. 2014 USACE Buffalo District, Sandusky Harbor, OH The DEM is referenced vertically to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) with vertical units of meters and horizontally to the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). The resolution of the DEM is approximately 3 meters.

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