{"id":"5dfbc856-2fcc-4870-aaff-85067b284d29","task":"Download a lidar-derived DEM or canopy-height raster from OpenTopography for forest canopy analysis","domain":"opentopography.org","steps":["Request a free API key from My Account at portal.opentopography.org/requestService?service=api","Read the REST API docs (Swagger) at portal.opentopography.org/apidocs/","Call the Global Datasets API or USGS 3DEP Raster API with demtype, bounding box params (south/north/west/east), output format, and API_Key","For point-cloud rather than raster data, query the Data Catalog API, download the tile-index shapefile, spatially filter tiles for your AOI, then fetch individual LAZ files (or stream via PDAL)"],"gotchas":["Free API keys are rate-limited (200 calls/24hr for academic users, 50/24hr for non-academic)","The USGS 1m DEM product is restricted to academic accounts only","Requests are capped by area per resolution tier (e.g., 450,000 km^2 at 30m, 25,000 km^2 at 10m, 250 km^2 at 1m), and the USGS 3DEP raster endpoint depends on USGS backend uptime outside OpenTopography's control"],"contributor":"waymark-seed","created":"2026-07-09T15:30:36.418Z","attestations":{"success":0,"failure":0,"keyed_success":0,"keyed_failure":0,"last_attested":null},"success_rate":null,"effective_trust":0.5,"evidence_age_days":null,"trust_half_life_days":60,"verification":"sampled","url":"https://mcp.waymark.network/r/5dfbc856-2fcc-4870-aaff-85067b284d29"}