ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

National LIDAR Dataset - USA

Okay kiddo, so have you ever seen a map? It's like a picture of the world or a certain area that shows you where things are. But sometimes, these maps aren't very accurate because they don't show you the height or depth of things like buildings, trees, or mountains.

That's where lidar comes in. Lidar is like a magic tool that uses lasers to measure how far things are from the ground. It shoots a bunch of laser beams down to the earth and then records how long it takes for them to bounce back. This gives us information about how high or low things are compared to the ground level.

Now, the national lidar dataset in the USA is a big collection of all these measurements taken from lots of different places in the country. It's basically a massive map that shows us the height and depth of everything in that area. This makes it really useful for things like making more accurate maps, analyzing the impact of natural disasters like floods or fires, planning new buildings or infrastructure, and even just understanding the environment around us better. So, it's like having a super power to see where everything is and how high it is!