Advancing terrain data for better flood risk insight
Wednesday, May 13 | 11:00 ET, 08:00 PT, 16.00 BST
High-quality terrain data underpins every credible flood model. But not all elevation datasets are created equal. As flood risk analysis becomes more demanding, advances in accuracy, consistency and global coverage are redefining what’s possible.
In partnership with the National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA), this session will introduce FathomDEM+, Fathom’s next-generation global terrain dataset. By combining advanced machine learning with one of the world’s largest curated LiDAR datasets, FathomDEM+ delivers a near-LiDAR-quality, bias-corrected representation of terrain, bridging the gap between high-accuracy local data and traditional global models.
This technical session will explore the dataset’s underlying data sources, US coverage, methodology and independent validation, including recent improvements in both absolute and relative terrain precision.
Beyond the technical detail, we’ll focus on what this means in practice. We will explore how improved terrain data translates into more accurate flood extent mapping, better depth estimates and more reliable risk assessments. We’ll also highlight key use cases, showing how these advances can support more efficient project delivery and better outcomes across real-world applications.
Finally, we’ll consider how datasets like FathomDEM+ can complement public flood mapping programs, helping to address gaps where regulatory data may be limited, inconsistent or outdated.
Join us to discover how advances in terrain data are enabling more confident, efficient and actionable flood risk decisions across sectors.
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This webinar is being hosted in partnership with the National Association of Flood & Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA)
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Find out more about FathomDEM+
High-resolution, globally consistent terrain data is essential across a wide range of applications:
- Architecture, engineering and construction (AEC): Supporting flood and hydraulic modeling, infrastructure planning and digital twin environments
- NGO and public sector organizations: Enabling disaster response, climate adaptation planning and water and sanitation risk management
- Broader geospatial and risk applications: From resilience strategy to large-scale environmental and hazard analysis
Quote I’d like to thank the effort of regional flood planning groups, its members, technical consultants, the public and other agencies who have been putting in a lot of time to put together regional flood plans, essentially going to come together as the first State Flood Plan for Texas.
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Fathom’s powerful models are uniquely able to support our work evaluating potential nature-based solutions at large scales. Working with them has been great – they are highly skilled professionals who have delivered products on time throughout every phase of our work.
Quote “At Floodbase, we value scientific rigor and transparency. This is one of the main reasons we chose to work with the team at Fathom.”
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Quote Fathom provides a much-improved resolution of flood risk mapping. This helped us identify significantly more critical assets that were at risk compared to that shown using FEMA maps and created a more localized understanding of flood risk.
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Quote I knew it was going to be a challenge to create a comprehensive statewide vulnerability assessment using a seamless data set that had both existing and future conditions. We saw that Fathom had carried out similar work in Texas, so we were confident Fathom’s data was comprehensive and robust.
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