dataset · England
LIDAR Composite Digital Surface Model (DSM) - 2m
The LIDAR Composite DSM (Digital Surface Model) is a raster elevation model covering ~99% of England at 2m spatial resolution. The DSM (Digital Surface Model) is produced from the last or only laser pulse returned to the sensor and includes heights of objects, such as vehicles, buildings and vegetation, as well as the terrain surface Produced by the Environment Agency in 2022, the DSM is derived from a combination of our Time Stamped archive and National LIDAR Programme surveys, which have been
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Licence: ["There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the licence identified.", "There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the
Evidence quality: 66.8
Listed in data.gov.uk public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- DSM elevation raster (heights of buildings, vegetation and terrain)
- Coverage docs-verified
- England (~99%) · Source surveys from 6 June 2000 to 2 April 2022
- Resolution docs-verified
- 2m spatial
- Update frequency docs-verified
- annually
- Formats docs-verified
- GeoTIFF · WCS · WMS · WMTS
- Access docs-verified
- Open Government Licence v3.0; no public access constraints
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Surface and building/canopy height baseline for site survey checks · Overland flow path screening for FRA and drainage strategy (cross-check against a bare-earth DTM) · Building and tree-canopy height analysis for planning and visibility assessments
- Audience llm-inferred
- flood consultants · drainage engineers · hydrologists · civils engineers · GIS analysts · planners
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- Surface model: includes buildings and vegetation, so it is not bare-earth terrain · England only (~99%); no coverage for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland · Source surveys end April 2022, so recent terrain change is not captured · Survey vertical accuracy is +/-15cm RMSE per survey, so it is not a survey-grade model · Distributed as 5km GeoTIFF tiles that need mosaicking for larger areas · Metadata says annual update, but this is a 2022 composite; check for newer releases
Evidence
- https://environment.data.gov.uk/api/file/download?fileDataSetId=68fd2981-8e50-4253-97bb-f791aa324d5c&fileName=LIDAR Composite Technical Information Guide.docx
- https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/69133f02-3c16-406f-9602-41f5d033f47e/lidar-composite-digital-surface-model-dsm-2m
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.