How can I access and use second generation lidar data?

The second generation lidar data is provided in modern data formats that are intended for direct access. Users should connect to the services in a preferred desktop GIS software and perform analysis directly. Users may also clip the data to the study extent to create a local copy of the data that is necessary for a specific project or purpose. For further information about downloading second generation lidar data, please see the download guide.

Detailed guidance on how to add Minnesota’s spatio-temporal asset catalog (STAC), virtual raster tile (VRT) and ArcGIS Image Service of Minnesota’s second-generation lidar derived data to desktop applications is available below.

Please note that STAC and VRT products will not load properly in versions of ArcGIS Pro 3.5 or older. As an alternative, users of ArcGIS Pro versions 3.5 or earlier may connect to the Statewide Seamless COG-backed Esri image service, or other DEM work unit image services available through the Minnesota Geospatial Commons.

Resources

• Information about Second generation Lidar derived data can be found on 2nd Generation Lidar Elevation Data for Minnesota: 2021-2024. Raster data are offered via:
  • STAC Catalog: A machine-readable site that contains raster data such as 100km seamless digital elevation model (DEM) COGs (cloud optimized geotiff) and work unit sized COGs of unblended data.
  • STAC Browser: A user-friendly site that allows browsing the STAC catalog in a readable format.
• Types of resources available:
  • Virtual Rasters (VRT): URLs to VRTs can also be accessed via the STAC browser above.
  • Image Services available from the lidar resources shared on the Minnesota Geospatial Commons.
  • Vector data such as Flight swaths (formerly flight lines) are offered as map services or feature services, please see “Statewide Authoritative Datasets and Derivatives” section of 2nd Generation Lidar Elevation Data for Minnesota: 2021-2024 for available datasets.

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Browsing the STAC

The Minnesota Geospatial STAC Catalog was created to share 2nd generation Lidar derived rasters in Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) format or Virtual Rasters.

• Seamless DEM data is organized by 100 kilometer sections minnesota-100km-sections - Minnesota Geospatial STAC Catalog and a single VRT minnesota-virtual-raster-tile - Minnesota Geospatial STAC Catalog
• Unblended DEMs delivered by vendors are organized by Lidar Acquisition Blocks (LABs) which are further broken down into work units in some cases.
• Once you locate your dataset of interest you can use obtain the URL of either COG or VRT for use in your preferred mapping application.
• For detailed analysis, we encourage users to clip the layer by a bounding box to the necessary study extent and run analysis on the local clipped layer. We do not recommend attempting to download large portions of data including full 100km sections or full LABs.

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Adding MnTopo Data to ArcGIS Pro

STAC Catalog

1. Open ArcGIS Pro
2. Go to the “Insert” tab > click on the “Connections” icon > scroll down to “STAC connection” and a sub menu will appear > click on “New STAC Connection”
3. For “Connection Name” type a name of your choice e.g “MN DEM STAC” and for “Connection” add the STAC URL: https://stac.gisdata.mn.gov/
4. Use the “View” tab > Click on “Catalog Pane” > the Catalog Pane will appear > in the “Project” tab click on the “STACs” folder > then folder will open and you should see “MN DEM STAC”
5. Right click on “MN DEM STAC” and select “Explore STAC” > you should see the STAC folders
6. Click on the check box beside your folder of interest then click on “View Results” at the bottom of the “Explore STAC” dialogue or “Results” at the top of the dialogue to see files listed in the folder > select all items manually by clicking the check box, or select all by clicking the check box above the first item and then click on the ADD icon to add the DEMs to the map.

VRTs

1. Open ArcGIS Pro.
2. Click on the “Map” tab.
3. Click on the “Add Data” icon and scroll down to “From Path”.
4. In the “Add Data From Path” pop-up add the URL (copied from the STAC browser) of your preferred VRT in the Path box, Service type will appear, leave it as “Automatic”, then click “Add”.

Esri Services (Image or Vector)

1. Open ArcGIS Pro
2. Click on the “Map” tab
3. Click on the “Add Data” icon and scroll down to “From Path”
4. In the “Add Data From Path” pop-up add the URL of your preferred Service the Path box, Service type will appear, leave it as “An ArcGIS Server Web Service”, then click “Add”

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Adding MnTopo Data to QGIS

STAC Catalog

1. Open QGIS and zoom to your project area
2. Select Layer | Add Layer | Add Layer from STAC Catalog
3. Create a connection to the MnGeo STAC Catalog, or connect to an existing connection.
   1. In the connection details pane, fill out a descriptive connection name and add the STAC catalog URL: https://stac.gisdata.mn.gov/. Authentication is not required.
   2. Connect to the MnGeo STAC
4. To filter by spatial extent:
   1. Click filters
   2. Check spatial extent
   3. Use the dropdown to choose "Use current map canvas extent"
   4. Check "Only search within specific collections"
   5. Deselect all selections, then select "minnesota-100km-sections"
   6. Click OK
   7. Select the data product(s) you are interested in and click the "Add" button in the lower right
5. Close the Data Source Manager window

Statewide VRT

1. Open QGIS and zoom to Minnesota
2. Select Layer | Add Layer | Add Layer from STAC Catalog
3. Create a connection to the MnGeo STAC Catalog, or connect to an existing connection.
   1. In the connection details pane, fill out a descriptive connection name and add the STAC catalog URL: https://stac.gisdata.mn.gov. Authentication is not required.
   2. Connect to the MnGeo STAC
4. Click filters
5. Check "Only search within specific collections"
6. Deselect all selections, then select "minnesota-virtual-raster-tile"
7. Right click the 2nd_Generation_Seamless_Lidar_DEM and select "Download Assets..."
8. Select a download location and select the VRT item
9. In the left sidebar, scroll up and find the "Raster" section
10. Select "File" as the source type, then find and select the file from your machine
11. Click the "Add" button in the lower right and close the Data Source Manager window

Esri Image Service

1. Open QGIS and zoom to your project area
2. Select Layer | Add Layer | Add ArcGIS REST Service Layer
3. In the Data Source Manager window click “New”
4. The Connection Details window will pop up.
   1. Create a name for your connection in the “Name” field
   2. Add the URL of the Image Service you would like to access. Image Service URLs can be found on the item details page of the Minnesota Geospatial Commons by clicking the "View Data Source" button.
   3. Click "OK" to add the service.
5. Select the service and click "Connect"
6. Select the layer and click the "Add" button in the lower right
7. Close the Data Source Manager window

How can I access first generation lidar data?

Esri map or vector tile services are available for the first generation contours, DEM, and hillshade.

Map Layer	Layer Description
DEM 1st Gen (Color)	First generation lidar DEM image service
Hillshade 1st Gen	First generation Minnesota hillshade
Contours (50ft) 1st Gen	First generation 50ft countours
Contours (10ft) 1st Gen	First generation 10ft countours
Contours (2ft) 1st Gen	First generation 2ft countours