At 20,310 feet (6.2km) above sea level, the highest point in the United States is Denali, Alaska (formerly known as Mount McKinley). The highest point in the contiguous United States is Mount Whitney, in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California; followed by Mount Elbert, Colorado - the highest point in the Rocky Mountains. When looking at the highest point in each state, the 13 tallest peaks are all found in the western region of the country, while there is much more diversity across the other regions and territories.

Despite being approximately 6,500 feet lower than Denali, Hawaii's Mauna Kea is sometimes considered the tallest mountain (and volcano) on earth. This is because its base is well below sea level - the mountain has a total height of 33,474 feet, which is almost 4,500 feet higher than Mount Everest.

This is a tiled collection of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) and is one meter resolution. The 3DEP data holdings serve as the elevation layer of The National Map, and provide foundational elevation information for earth science studies and mapping applications in the United States. Scientists and resource managers use 3DEP data for hydrologic modeling, resource monitoring, mapping and visualization, and many other applications. The elevations in this DEM represent the topographic bare-earth surface. USGS standard one-meter DEMs are produced exclusively from high resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) source data of one-meter or higher resolution. One-meter DEM surfaces are seamless within collection projects, but, not necessarily seamless across projects. The spatial reference used for tiles of the one-meter DEM within the conterminous United States (CONUS) is Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) in units of meters, and in conformance with the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). All bare earth elevation values are in meters and are referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). Each tile is distributed in the UTM Zone in which it lies. If a tile crosses two UTM zones, it is delivered in both zones. The one-meter DEM is the highest resolution standard DEM offered in the 3DEP product suite. Other 3DEP products are nationally seamless DEMs in resolutions of 1/3, 1, and 2 arc seconds. These seamless DEMs were referred to as the National Elevation Dataset (NED) from about 2000 through 2015 at which time they became the seamless DEM layers under the 3DEP program and the NED name and system were retired. Other 3DEP products include five-meter DEMs in Alaska as well as various source datasets including the lidar point cloud and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (Ifsar) digital surface models and intensity images. All 3DEP products are public domain.

The single value tidal water surface of mean higher high water (MHHW) modeled at the Honolulu tide gauge is used to represent present-day sea level for the urban corridor stretching from Honolulu International Airport to Waikiki and Diamond Head along the south shore of Oahu in the state of Hawaii. Water levels are shown as they would appear during the highest high tides (excluding wind-driven tides). Land elevation was derived using a National Geospatial Agency (NGA)-provided digital elevation model (DEM) based on LiDAR data of the Honolulu area collected in 2009. This "bare earth" DEM (vegetation and structures removed) was used to represent the current topography of the study area above zero elevation. The accuracy of the DEM was validated using a selection of 16 Tidal Benchmarks located within the study area. Data produced in 2014 by Dr. Charles "Chip" Fletcher of the department of Geology & Geophysics (G&G) in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Supported in part by the NOAA Coastal Storms Program (CSP) and the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program. These data should be used strictly as a planning reference and not for navigation, permitting, or other legal purposes.

This is a tiled collection of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) and is 1/3 arc-second (approximately 10 m) resolution. The 3DEP data holdings serve as the elevation layer of The National Map, and provide foundational elevation information for earth science studies and mapping applications in the United States. Scientists and resource managers use 3DEP data for hydrologic modeling, resource monitoring, mapping and visualization, and many other applications. The elevations in this DEM represent the topographic bare-earth surface. The seamless 1/3 arc-second DEM layers are derived from diverse source data that are processed to a common coordinate system and unit of vertical measure. These data are distributed in geographic coordinates in units of decimal degrees, and in conformance with the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83). All elevation values are in meters and, over the continental United States, are referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). The seamless 1/3 arc-second DEM layer provides coverage of the conterminous United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, other territorial islands, and in limited areas of Alaska. The seamless 1/3arc-second DEM is available as pre-staged current and historical products tiled in GeoTIFF format. The seamless 1/3 arc-second DEM layer is updated continually as new data become available in the current folder. Previously created 1 degree blocks are retained in the historical folder with an appended date suffix (YYYMMDD) when they were produced. Other 3DEP products are nationally seamless DEMs in resolutions of 1, and 2 arc seconds. These seamless DEMs were referred to as the National Elevation Dataset (NED) from about 2000 through 2015 at which time they became the seamless DEM layers under the 3DEP program and the NED name and system were retired. Other 3DEP products include one-meter DEMs produced exclusively from high resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) source data and five-meter DEMs in Alaska as well as various source datasets including the lidar point cloud and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (Ifsar) digital surface models and intensity images. All 3DEP products are public domain.

The High Accuracy Elevation Data Project collected elevation data (meters) on a 400 meter topographic grid with a vertical accuracy of +/- 15 centimeters to define the topography in South Florida. The data are referenced to the horizontal datum North American Datum 1983 (NAD 83) and the vertical datum North American Vertical Datum 1988 (NAVD 88). The High Accuracy Elevation Data Project began with a pilot study in FY 1995 to determine if the then state-of-the-art GPS technology could be used to perform a topographic survey that would meet the vertical accuracy requirements of the hydrologic modeling community. The initial testing platform was from a truck and met the accuracy requirements. Data were collected in areas near Homestead, Florida. The data are available for the areas shown on the USGS High Accuracy Elevation Data graphic at http://sofia.usgs.gov/exchange/desmond/desmondelev.html.

The U.S. Geological Survey has been forecasting sea-level rise impacts on the landscape to evaluate where coastal land will be available for future use. The purpose of this project is to develop a spatially explicit, probabilistic model of coastal response for the Northeastern U.S. to a variety of sea-level scenarios that take into account the variable nature of the coast and provides outputs at spatial and temporal scales suitable for decision support. Model results provide predictions of adjusted land elevation ranges (AE) with respect to forecast sea-levels, a likelihood estimate of this outcome (PAE), and a probability of coastal response (CR) characterized as either static or dynamic. The predictions span the coastal zone vertically from -12 meters (m) to 10 m above mean high water (MHW). Results are produced at a horizontal resolution of 30 meters for four decades (the 2020s, 2030s, 2050s and 2080s). Adjusted elevations and their respective probabilities are generated using regional geospatial datasets of current sea-level forecasts, vertical land movement rates, and current elevation data. Coastal response type predictions incorporate adjusted elevation predictions with land cover data and expert knowledge to determine the likelihood that an area will be able to accommodate or adapt to water level increases and maintain its initial land class state or transition to a new non-submerged state (dynamic) or become submerged (static). Intended users of these data include scientific researchers, coastal planners, and natural resource management communities.

These GIS layers provide the probability of observing the forecast of adjusted land elevation (PAE) with respect to predicted sea-level rise or the Northeastern U.S. for the 2020s, 2030s, 2050s and 2080s. These data are based on the following inputs: sea-level rise, vertical land movement rates due to glacial isostatic adjustment and elevation data. The output displays the highest probability among the five adjusted elevation ranges (-12 to -1, -1 to 0, 0 to 1, 1 to 5, and 5 to 10 m) to be observed for the forecast year as defined by a probabilistic framework (a Bayesian network), and should be used concurrently with the adjusted land elevation layer (AE), also available from http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/coastal_response/, which provides users with the forecast elevation range occurring when compared with the four other elevation ranges. These data layers primarily show the distribution of adjusted elevation range probabilities over a large spatial scale and should therefore be used qualitatively.

Digital elevation model used for the conservation assessment of Greater Sage-grouse and sagebrush habitat conducted by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Digital elevation models were downloaded from the USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED) which was developed by merging the highest-resolution, best quality elevation data available across the United States into a seamless raster format to provide 1:24,000-scale Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data for the conterminous US.

This is a 1 arc-second (approximately 30 m) resolution tiled collection of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) seamless data products . 3DEP data serve as the elevation layer of The National Map, and provide basic elevation information for Earth science studies and mapping applications in the United States. Scientists and resource managers use 3DEP data for global change research, hydrologic modeling, resource monitoring, mapping and visualization, and many other applications. 3DEP data compose an elevation dataset that consists of seamless layers and a high resolution layer. Each of these layers consists of the best available raster elevation data of the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, territorial islands, Mexico and Canada. 3DEP data are updated continually as new data become available. Seamless 3DEP data are derived from diverse source data that are processed to a common coordinate system and unit of vertical measure. These data are distributed in geographic coordinates in units of decimal degrees, and in conformance with the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83). All elevation values are in meters and, over the conterminous United States, are referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). The vertical reference will vary in other areas. The elevations in these DEMs represent the topographic bare-earth surface. All 3DEP products are public domain.

This dataset includes data over Canada and Mexico as part of an international, interagency collaboration with the Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) and the Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN) Centre for Topographic Information-Sherbrook, Ottawa. For more details on the data provenance of this dataset, visit here and here.

Click here for a broad overview of this dataset

Culminating more than four years of processing data, NASA and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) have completed Earth's most extensive global topographic map. The mission is a collaboration among NASA, NGA, and the German and Italian space agencies. For 11 days in February 2000, the space shuttle Endeavour conducted the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) using C-Band and X-Band interferometric synthetic aperture radars to acquire topographic data over 80% of the Earth's land mass, creating the first-ever near-global data set of land elevations. This data was used to produce topographic maps (digital elevation maps) 30 times as precise as the best global maps used today. The SRTM system gathered data at the rate of 40,000 per minute over land. They reveal for the first time large, detailed swaths of Earth's topography previously obscured by persistent cloudiness. The data will benefit scientists, engineers, government agencies and the public with an ever-growing array of uses. The SRTM radar system mapped Earth from 56 degrees south to 60 degrees north of the equator. The resolution of the publicly available data is three arc-seconds (1/1,200th of a degree of latitude and longitude, about 295 feet, at Earth's equator). The final data release covers Australia and New Zealand in unprecedented uniform detail. It also covers more than 1,000 islands comprising much of Polynesia and Melanesia in the South Pacific, as well as islands in the South Indian and Atlantic oceans. SRTM data are being used for applications ranging from land use planning to "virtual" Earth exploration. Currently, the mission's homepage "http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm" provides direct access to recently obtained earth images. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission C-band data for North America and South America are available to the public. A list of complete public data set is available at "http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/dataprod.htm" The data specifications are within the following parameters: 30-meter X 30-meter spatial sampling with 16 meter absolute vertical height accuracy, 10-meter relative vertical height accuracy, and 20-meter absolute horizontal circular accuracy. From the JPL Mission Products Summary, "http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/dataprelimdescriptions.html". The primary products of the SRTM mission are the digital elevation maps of most of the Earth's surface. Visualized images of these maps are available for viewing online. Below you will find descriptions of the types of images that are being generated:

• Radar Image
• Radar Image with Color as Height
• Radar Image with Color Wrapped Fringes
  -Shaded Relief
• Perspective View with B/W Radar Image Overlaid
• Perspective View with Radar Image Overlaid, Color as Height
• Perspective View of Shaded Relief
• Perspective View with Landsat or other Image Overlaid
• Contour Map - B/W with Contour Lines
• Stereo Pair
• Anaglypgh

The SRTM radar contained two types of antenna panels, C-band and X-band. The near-global topographic maps of Earth called Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are made from the C-band radar data. These data were processed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and are being distributed through the United States Geological Survey's EROS Data Center. Data from the X-band radar are used to create slightly higher resolution DEMs but without the global coverage of the C-band radar. The SRTM X-band radar data are being processed and distributed by the German Aerospace Center, DLR.

Between January and March 2010, lidar data was collected in southeast/coastal Georgia under a multi-agency partnership between the Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center, USGS, FEMA, NOAA and local county governments. Data acquisition is for the full extent of coastal Georgia, approximately 50 miles inland, excluding counties with existing high-resolution lidar derived elevation data. The data capture area consists of an area of approximately 5703 square miles. This project is within the Atlantic Coastal Priority Area as defined by the National Geospatial Program (NGP) and supports homeland security requirements of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). This project also supports the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and will advance USGS efforts related to The National Map and the National Elevation Dataset.

The data were delivered in LAS format version 1.2 in 5000 x 5000 foot tiles. The data are classified according to ASPRS LAS 1.2 classification scheme:

Class 1 - Unclassified Class 2 - Bare Earth Class 7 - Low Point (Noise) Class 9 - Water Class 10 - Land below sea level Class 12 - Overlap

The D-DIRT experiment in Idaho was established in 2013,and is situated at the Reynold’s Creek Experimental Watershed (RCEW), which is also the site of the Reynold’s Creek Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) (http://criticalzone.org/reynolds/research/). The RCEW is located in the Owyhee Range in southwest Idaho, and situated along a 1000 m elevation range, it encompasses a wide range of environments typical of the intermountain region of the western USA. Precipitation in the RCEW generally increases with elevation from less than 250 mm/y to greater than 1100 mm/y, while mean annual temperature decreases by about 5°C, from 10.2°C to 5.6°C. Rain is the dominant form of precipitation in the RCEW, with snow dominating in the highest elevations. Corresponding vegetation types include sagebrush steppe in the lower elevations, transitioning to mountain sagebrush, western juniper, aspen and coniferous forest. An extensive description of the RCEW environment can be found in Seyfried et al., (2001). The RCEW-DIRT site is one of the sites in the D-DIRT network (Dryland Detrital Inputs and Removal Treatments), and is located at the lowest elevation (1184m) at RCEW (43°15’ N,116°46’ W). Mean annual temperature at the site is 10.2°C, and mean annual precipitation is 236mm. The vegetation consists of a patchy mosaic of shrubs and grasses. The main shrub is big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), and common herbaceous species at the site are P. secunda, P. spicata, and B. tectorum.

This is a tiled collection of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) and is 2 arc-second (approximately 60 m) resolution covering Alaska. The elevations in this Digital Elevation Model (DEM) represent the topographic bare-earth surface. The 3DEP data holdings serve as the elevation layer of The National Map, and provide foundational elevation information for earth science studies and mapping applications in the United States. Scientists and resource managers use 3DEP data for hydrologic modeling, resource monitoring, mapping and visualization, and many other applications. The seamless 2 arc-second DEM layers are derived from diverse source data that are processed to a common coordinate system and unit of vertical measure. These data are distributed in geographic coordinates in units of decimal degrees, and in conformance with the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83). All elevation values are in meters and, over the continental United States, are referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). The seamless 2 arc-second DEM layer provides coverage of the Alaska only. The seamless 2 arc-second DEM is available as pre-staged current and historical products tiled in GeoTIFF format. The seamless 2 arc-second DEM layer is updated continually as new data become available in the current folder. Previously created 1 degree blocks are retained in the historical folder with an appended date suffix (YYYYMMDD) when they were produced. Other 3DEP products are nationally seamless DEMs in resolutions of ⅓ and 1 -arc-second. These seamless DEMs were referred to as the National Elevation Dataset (NED) from about 2000 through 2015 at which time they became the seamless DEM layers under the 3DEP program and the NED name and system were retired. Other 3DEP products include one-meter DEMs produced exclusively from high resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) source data and five-meter DEMs in Alaska as well as various source datasets including the lidar point cloud and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (Ifsar) digital surface models and intensity images. All 3DEP products are public domain.

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This tile of the National Elevation Dataset (NED) is 1/9 arc-second resolution. The National Elevation Dataset (NED) serves the elevation layer of The National Map, and provides basic elevation information for earth science studies and mapping applications in the United States. Scientists and resource managers use NED data for global change research, hydrologic modeling, resource monitoring, mapping and visualization, and many other applications. The NED is an elevation dataset that consists of seamless layers and a high resolution layer. Each of these layers are composed of the best available raster elevation data of the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, territorial islands, Mexico and Canada. The NED is updated continually as new data become available. All NED data are in the public domain. The NED are derived from diverse source data that are processed to a common coordinate system and unit of vertical measure. These data are distributed in geographic coordinates in units of decimal degrees, and in conformance with the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83). All elevation values are in meters and, over the continental United States, are referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). The vertical reference will vary in other areas. NED data are available nationally (except for Alaska) at resolutions of 1 arc-second (approx. 30 meters) and 1/3 arc-second (approx. 10 meters), and in limited areas at 1/9 arc-second (approx. 3 meters). In most of Alaska, only lower resolution source data are available. As a result, most NED data for Alaska are at 2-arc-second (approx. 60 meters) grid spacing. Part of Alaska is available at the 1- and 1/3-arc-second resolution from IFSAR collections starting in 2010. Plans are in place for collection of statewide IFSAR in Alaska through 2016.

This dataset contains Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) elevation data from Quarantine Bay and Neptune Pass, located in southeastern Louisiana, USA, on the east side of the lower Mississippi River. Data were collected on 6 October 2022 and 28 March 2023 to investigate landform development and vegetation dynamics associated with the expansion of Neptune Pass, the largest new distributary of the Mississippi River. The study area spans from 29.397°N to 29.272°N latitude and from -89.521°W to -89.474°W longitude. Data acquisition was performed using a DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone platform equipped with a Zenmuse L1 gimbal payload, which integrates both a LiDAR scanner and a high-resolution RGB camera. Digital elevation models (DEMs) and visible light mosaics were produced from dense 3D point clouds using DJI Terra (https://enterprise.dji.com/dji-terra) and CloudCompare (https://github.com/CloudCompare/CloudCompare/releases/). Georeferencing was achieved using real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS ground control points in QGIS to align LiDAR pulses and imagery with real-world coordinates. The final products include high-resolution DEMs and RGB orthomosaics suitable for geomorphological and ecological analysis.

NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) is building high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) for select U.S. coastal regions in the Gulf of Mexico. These integrated bathymetric-topographic DEMs were developed for NOAA Coastal Survey Development Laboratory (CSDL) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to evaluate the utility of the Vertical Datum Transformation tool (VDatum), developed jointly by NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS), National Geodetic Survey (NGS), and Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). Bathymetric, topographic, and shoreline data used in DEM compilation are obtained from various sources, including NGDC, the U.S. Coastal Services Center (CSC), the U.S. Office of Coast Survey (OCS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and other federal, state, and local government agencies, academic institutions, and private companies. DEMs are referenced to the vertical tidal datum of North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) or Mean High Water (MHW) and horizontal datum of North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83). Cell size ranges from 1/3 arc-second (~10 meters) to 1 arc-second (~30 meters). The NOAA VDatum DEM Project was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 (http://www.recovery.gov/).

This dataset contains the slope for North America from the Hydrologic Derivatives for Modeling and Analysis (HDMA) database. The slope data were developed and distributed by processing units. There are 13 processing units for North America. The distribution files have the number of the processing unit appended to the end of the zip file name (e.g. na_slope_3_2.zip contains the slope data for unit 3-2). The HDMA database provides comprehensive and consistent global coverage of raster and vector topographically derived layers, including raster layers of digital elevation model (DEM) data, flow direction, flow accumulation, slope, and compound topographic index (CTI); and vector layers of streams and catchment boundaries. The coverage of the data is global (-180º, 180º, -90º, 90º) with the underlying DEM being a hybrid of three datasets: HydroSHEDS (Hydrological data and maps based on SHuttle Elevation Derivatives at multiple Scales), Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 (GMTED2010) and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). For most of the globe south of 60º North, the raster resolution of the data is 3-arc-seconds, corresponding to the resolution of the SRTM. For the areas North of 60º, the resolution is 7.5-arc-seconds (the smallest resolution of the GMTED2010 dataset) except for Greenland, where the resolution is 30-arc-seconds. The streams and catchments are attributed with Pfafstetter codes, based on a hierarchical numbering system, that carry important topological information.

The U.S. Geological Survey has been forecasting sea-level rise impacts on the landscape to evaluate where coastal land will be available for future use. The purpose of this project is to develop a spatially explicit, probabilistic model of coastal response for the Northeastern U.S. to a variety of sea-level scenarios that take into account the variable nature of the coast and provides outputs at spatial and temporal scales suitable for decision support. Model results provide predictions of adjusted land elevation ranges (AE) with respect to forecast sea-levels, a likelihood estimate of this outcome (PAE), and a probability of coastal response (CR) characterized as either static or dynamic. The predictions span the coastal zone vertically from -12 meters (m) to 10 m above mean high water (MHW). Results are produced at a horizontal resolution of 30 meters for four decades (the 2020s, 2030s, 2050s and 2080s). Adjusted elevations and their respective probabilities are generated using regional geospatial datasets of current sea-level forecasts, vertical land movement rates, and current elevation data. Coastal response type predictions incorporate adjusted elevation predictions with land cover data and expert knowledge to determine the likelihood that an area will be able to accommodate or adapt to water level increases and maintain its initial land class state or transition to a new non-submerged state (dynamic) or become submerged (static). Intended users of these data include scientific researchers, coastal planners, and natural resource management communities.

The U.S. Geological Survey has been forecasting sea-level rise impacts on the landscape to evaluate where coastal land will be available for future use. The purpose of this project is to develop a spatially explicit, probabilistic model of coastal response for the Northeastern U.S. to a variety of sea-level scenarios that take into account the variable nature of the coast and provides outputs at spatial and temporal scales suitable for decision support. Model results provide predictions of adjusted land elevation ranges (AE) with respect to forecast sea-levels, a likelihood estimate of this outcome (PAE), and a probability of coastal response (CR) characterized as either static or dynamic. The predictions span the coastal zone vertically from -12 meters (m) to 10 m above mean high water (MHW). Results are produced at a horizontal resolution of 30 meters for four decades (the 2020s, 2030s, 2050s and 2080s). Adjusted elevations and their respective probabilities are generated using regional geospatial datasets of current sea-level forecasts, vertical land movement rates, and current elevation data. Coastal response type predictions incorporate adjusted elevation predictions with land cover data and expert knowledge to determine the likelihood that an area will be able to accommodate or adapt to water level increases and maintain its initial land class state or transition to a new non-submerged state (dynamic) or become submerged (static). Intended users of these data include scientific researchers, coastal planners, and natural resource management communities.