More Details on USGS Funding from Stimulus Package

The Washington Post today is reporting that the USGS will get $140 Million from the recently passed stimulus package for supporting contract work for capturing LiDAR data. The intent is to facilitate topographic map production. According to the Post, the money "will go toward paying private firms to use new airplane-based laser technology to produce a more accurate topographical map of the country.The information is useful for such things as tracking sea-level rise and flooding."

Last week, we reported that the USGS was to get $140 Million from the package for "Repairing facilities and equipment for U.S. Geological Survey seismic, volcano, monitoring and stream gages." Today’s news seems to indicate more specifics but the same dollar amount.