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.

The United States has an average elevation of roughly 2,500 feet (763m) above sea level, however there is a stark contrast in elevations across the country. Highest states Colorado is the highest state in the United States, with an average elevation of 6,800 feet (2,074m) above sea level. The 10 states with the highest average elevation are all in the western region of the country, as this is, by far, the most mountainous region in the country. The largest mountain ranges in the contiguous western states are the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and Cascade Range, while the Appalachian Mountains is the longest range in the east - however, the highest point in the U.S. is Denali (Mount McKinley), found in Alaska. Lowest states At just 60 feet above sea level, Delaware is the state with the lowest elevation. Delaware is the second smallest state, behind Rhode Island, and is located on the east coast. Larger states with relatively low elevations are found in the southern region of the country - both Florida and Louisiana have an average elevation of just 100 feet (31m) above sea level, and large sections of these states are extremely vulnerable to flooding and rising sea levels, as well as intermittent tropical storms.

The highest city in the world with a population of more than one million is La Paz. The Capital of Bolivia sits ***** meters above sea level, and is more than 1,000 meters higher than the second-ranked city, Quito. La Paz is also higher than Mt. Fuji in Japan, which has a height of 3,776 meters. Many of the world's largest cities are located in South America. The only city in North America that makes the top 20 list is Denver, Colorado, which has an altitude of ***** meters.

United States US: Urban Population Living in Areas Where Elevation is Below 5 meters: % of Total Population data was reported at 2.264 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 2.246 % for 2000. United States US: Urban Population Living in Areas Where Elevation is Below 5 meters: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 2.264 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2010, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.329 % in 1990 and a record low of 2.246 % in 2000. United States US: Urban Population Living in Areas Where Elevation is Below 5 meters: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Land Use, Protected Areas and National Wealth. Urban population below 5m is the percentage of the total population, living in areas where the elevation is 5 meters or less.; ; Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)/Columbia University. 2013. Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates Version 2. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/lecz-urban-rural-population-land-area-estimates-v2.; Weighted Average;

At 282 feet below sea level, Death Valley in the Mojave Desert, California is the lowest point of elevation in the United States (and North America). Coincidentally, Death Valley is less than 85 miles from Mount Whitney, the highest point of elevation in the mainland United States. Death Valley is one of the hottest places on earth, and in 1913 it was the location of the highest naturally occurring temperature ever recorded on Earth (although some meteorologists doubt its legitimacy). New Orleans Louisiana is the only other state where the lowest point of elevation was below sea level. This is in the city of New Orleans, on the Mississippi River Delta. Over half of the city (up to two-thirds) is located below sea level, and recent studies suggest that the city is sinking further - man-made efforts to prevent water damage or flooding are cited as one reason for the city's continued subsidence, as they prevent new sediment from naturally reinforcing the ground upon which the city is built. These factors were one reason why New Orleans was so severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - the hurricane itself was one of the deadliest in history, and it destroyed many of the levee systems in place to prevent flooding, and the elevation exacerbated the damage caused. Highest low points The lowest point in five states is over 1,000 feet above sea level. Colorado's lowest point, at 3,315 feet, is still higher than the highest point in 22 states or territories. For all states whose lowest points are found above sea level, these points are located in rivers, streams, or bodies of water.

The National High Altitude Photography (NHAP) program, which was operated from 1980 - 1989, was coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey as an interagency project to eliminate duplicate photography in various Government programs. The aim of the program was to cover the 48 conterminous states of the USA over a 5-year span. In the NHAP program, black-and-white and color-infrared aerial photographs were obtained on 9-inch film from an altitude of 40,000 feet above mean terrain elevation and are centered over USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles. The color-infrared photographs are at a scale of 1:58,000 (1 inch equals about .9 miles) and the black-and-white photographs are at a scale of 1:80,000 (1 inch equals about 1.26 miles).

Introduction

Climate Central’s Surging Seas: Risk Zone map shows areas vulnerable to near-term flooding from different combinations of sea level rise, storm surge, tides, and tsunamis, or to permanent submersion by long-term sea level rise. Within the U.S., it incorporates the latest, high-resolution, high-accuracy lidar elevation data supplied by NOAA (exceptions: see Sources), displays points of interest, and contains layers displaying social vulnerability, population density, and property value. Outside the U.S., it utilizes satellite-based elevation data from NASA in some locations, and Climate Central’s more accurate CoastalDEM in others (see Methods and Qualifiers). It provides the ability to search by location name or postal code.

The accompanying Risk Finder is an interactive data toolkit available for some countries that provides local projections and assessments of exposure to sea level rise and coastal flooding tabulated for many sub-national districts, down to cities and postal codes in the U.S. Exposure assessments always include land and population, and in the U.S. extend to over 100 demographic, economic, infrastructure and environmental variables using data drawn mainly from federal sources, including NOAA, USGS, FEMA, DOT, DOE, DOI, EPA, FCC and the Census.

This web tool was highlighted at the launch of The White House's Climate Data Initiative in March 2014. Climate Central's original Surging Seas was featured on NBC, CBS, and PBS U.S. national news, the cover of The New York Times, in hundreds of other stories, and in testimony for the U.S. Senate. The Atlantic Cities named it the most important map of 2012. Both the Risk Zone map and the Risk Finder are grounded in peer-reviewed science.

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This map is based on analysis of digital elevation models mosaicked together for near-total coverage of the global coast. Details and sources for U.S. and international data are below. Elevations are transformed so they are expressed relative to local high tide lines (Mean Higher High Water, or MHHW). A simple elevation threshold-based “bathtub method” is then applied to determine areas below different water levels, relative to MHHW. Within the U.S., areas below the selected water level but apparently not connected to the ocean at that level are shown in a stippled green (as opposed to solid blue) on the map. Outside the U.S., due to data quality issues and data limitations, all areas below the selected level are shown as solid blue, unless separated from the ocean by a ridge at least 20 meters (66 feet) above MHHW, in which case they are shown as not affected (no blue).

Areas using lidar-based elevation data: U.S. coastal states except Alaska
Elevation data used for parts of this map within the U.S. come almost entirely from ~5-meter horizontal resolution digital elevation models curated and distributed by NOAA in its Coastal Lidar collection, derived from high-accuracy laser-rangefinding measurements. The same data are used in NOAA’s Sea Level Rise Viewer. (High-resolution elevation data for Louisiana, southeast Virginia, and limited other areas comes from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)).

Areas using CoastalDEM™ elevation data: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Corn Island (Nicaragua), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Blas (Panama), Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago.

CoastalDEM™ is a proprietary high-accuracy bare earth elevation dataset developed especially for low-lying coastal areas by Climate Central. Use our contact form to request more information.

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 U.S. Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI) displays high-accuracy topographic and bathymetric data for the United States and its territories. The project is a collaborative effort between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This resource is a comprehensive, nationwide listing of known high-accuracy topographic data, including lidar and IfSAR, and bathymetric data, including NOAA hydrographic surveys, multibeam data, and bathymetric lidar. This zip file contains the attribute information and footprints about the data sets that are displayed in the Topographic Lidar, Topobathy Shoreline Lidar, IfSAR Data, and Bathymetric Lidar layers in the USIEI viewer. This does not include the elevation data itself. The data are provided in Esri file geodatabase format (gdb) and in the open format of OGC GeoPackage (gpkg). The data is also available via this map service: https://coast.noaa.gov/arcgis/rest/services/USInteragencyElevationInventory/USIEIv2/MapServer. The data is updated quarterly. The information provided for each elevation data set includes many attributes such as vertical accuracy, point spacing, and date of collection. A direct link to access the data or information about the contact organization is also available through the inventory. The footprints in this data set are generalized to represent the coverage of the collection. If the exact data coverage is needed, please contact the data provider for an authoritative footprint. The fields in the gdb and gpkg are in four tables. The fields in each table are listed in the Entity Attribute Overview field.

a quarter-quadrangle index map for the 26 IFSAR tiles (ESRI Shapefile format)

A nationwide listing of known publicly available high-accuracy topographic and bathymetric source elevation data for the United States and its territories. The inventory provides a single resource for information about all known completed and in-progress broad-area public domain elevation data. The information provided for each elevation dataset includes many attributes such as vertical accuracy, point spacing, and date of collection. A direct link to access the data or information about the contact organization is also available through the inventory. The United States Interagency Elevation Inventory raises awareness of and increases access to existing elevation data, thereby reducing data duplication efforts. It helps to identify data gaps and informs and encourages collaboration on future data collection efforts. The inventory displays data set boundaries and provides information about the elevation data but does not host the data itself. If available, links to access the data, metadata, and reports are included. The inventory viewer uses map services from multiple sources to provide information both topography and bathymetry. Map services from NOAA NCEI display the footprints and attribute information for the NOAA Hydrographic Surveys, Multibeam Bathymetry, and Trackline Surveys. A map service from USACE provides the USACE Hydrographic Surveys. Map services from NOAA Office for Coastal Management provide the bulk of the topographic and bathymetric lidar information. The NOAA NCEI and USACE service are updated regularly as new data in ingested. The data supporting the NOAA OCM hosted services are maintained by a partnership of federal agencies and supports the federal elevation theme. The agencies include NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This service is updated quarterly through an active process of data discovery and validation.

United States US: Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data was reported at 1.168 % in 2010. This stayed constant from the previous number of 1.168 % for 2000. United States US: Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data is updated yearly, averaging 1.168 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2010, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.168 % in 2010 and a record low of 1.168 % in 2010. United States US: Land Area Where Elevation is Below 5 Meters: % of Total Land Area data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Land Use, Protected Areas and National Wealth. Land area below 5m is the percentage of total land where the elevation is 5 meters or less.; ; Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)/Columbia University. 2013. Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates Version 2. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/lecz-urban-rural-population-land-area-estimates-v2.; Weighted Average;

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.

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.

Purpose: create a map of potential alpine habitat in the western USA as a basis for future studies in ecology and biogeography. Location: all mountains in the continental USA west of 104° longitude. Procedure: manually identify treeline elevations; interpolate a surface of these elevations; intersect the surface with a 90-m resolution DEM; record all areas above these elevations as projected alpine habitat; for display, map the area recorded as alpine at 90-m resolution. Products: a map for display; a dataset of elevations of treeline at 268 points on 66 mountain ranges in the western USA (61) and Canada (5); a dataset of points recorded as above treeline at 90-m resolution., All mountain ranges in the western USA and southern Canada were examined. The relatively continuous Rocky Mountains were subdivided according to named ranges or previously identified regions. These totaled 61 in the USA and 5 in Canada. The Canadian ranges were included to improve the interpolation at the northern end. At each range at least four treeline ecotone points were selected, one each on the north, east, south, and western edges of the range. Additional points were recorded on larger ranges such as the Sierra Nevada. The points were selected on Google Earth imagery by Malanson, who is experienced in treeline research (e.g., Alftine and Malanson 2004, Malanson and Butler 1994, Malanson et al. 2001, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2019, 2023, Smith-McKenna et al. 2014, Grafius and Malanson 2015, Weiss et al. 2015). The uppermost continuous forest cover was identified for the point. If an extensive zone of krummholz was observed, its elevational midpoint was identified. The elevation, latitude,..., , # Potential alpine habitat in the western USA based on treeline elevation

An elevation surface was interpolated from points in the western USA and Canada identified as treelines on Google Earth imagery. The surface was intersected with a USGS 90 m digital elevation model (, and all cells higher than the interpolated surface were recorded and mapped. Three products are included.

Description of the data and file structure

The first dataset, Final268Points, is a csv file of the 268 points identified as alpine treelines (Treeline Elevations). The data, in columns, include their latitude, longitude, and elevation as derived from Google Earth. The elevations of the points on the elevation surface generated by inverse distance weighting (IDW) and kriging (krig) are also listed. The second dataset, All90mPoints, is a compressed (zip) csv file of the c. 1.5 x 10^9 cells that were identified as having elevations greater than the surface generated by inverse distance weighting (All90mPoint...

Comprehensive dataset containing 28 verified High Peak locations in United States with complete contact information, ratings, reviews, and location data.

The sea level rise (SLR) coastal inundation layers were created using existing federal products: the (1) NOAA Coastal Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and (2) 2022 Interagency Sea Level Rise Technical Report Data Files. The DEMs for the Continental United States (CONUS) are provided in North American Vertical Datum 1988 (NAVD 88) and were converted to Mean Higher High Water (MHHW) using the NOAA VDatum conversion surfaces; the elevation values are in meters (m). The NOAA Scenarios of Future Mean Sea Level are provided in centimeters (cm). The MHHW DEMs for CONUS were merged and converted to cm and Scenarios of Future Mean Sea Level were subtracted from the merged DEM. Values below 0 represent areas that are below sea level and are “remapped” to 1, all values above 0 are remapped to “No Data”, creating a map that shows only areas impacted by SLR. Areas protected by levees in Louisiana and Texas were then masked or removed from the results. This was done for each of the emissions scenarios (Lower Emissions = 2022 Intermediate SLR Scenario Higher Emissions = 2022 Intermediate High SLR Scenario) at each of the mapped time intervals (Early Century - Year 2030, Middle Century - Year 2050, and Late Century - Year 2090). The resulting maps are displayed in the CMRA Assessment Tool. County, tract, and tribal geographies summaries of percentage SLR inundation were also calculated using Zonal Statistics tools. The Sea Level Rise Scenario year 2020 is considered “baseline” and the impacts are calculated by subtracting the baseline value from each of the near-term, mid-term and long-term timeframes. General Disclaimer The data and maps in this tool illustrate the scale of potential flooding, not the exact location, and do not account for erosion, subsidence, or future construction. Water levels are relative to Mean Higher High Water (MHHW) (excludes wind driven tides). The data, maps, and information provided should be used only as a screening-level tool for management decisions. As with all remotely sensed data, all features should be verified with a site visit. Hydroconnectivity was not considered in the mapping process. The data and maps in this tool are provided “as is,” without warranty to their performance, merchantable state, or fitness for any particular purpose. The entire risk associated with the results and performance of these data is assumed by the user. This tool should be used strictly as a planning reference tool and not for navigation, permitting, or other legal purposes. SLR visualizations and statistics are not available in CMRA for Hawaii, Alaska, or U.S. territories at this time. Levees Disclaimer Enclosed levee areas are displayed as gray areas on the maps. Major federal leveed areas were assumed high enough and strong enough to protect against inundation depicted in this viewer, and therefore no inundation was mapped in these regions. Major federal leveed areas were taken from the National Levee Database. Minor (nonfederal) leveed areas were mapped using the best available elevation data that capture leveed features. In some cases, however, breaks in elevation occur along leveed areas because of flood control features being removed from elevation data, limitations of the horizontal and vertical resolution of the elevation data, the occurrence of levee drainage features, and so forth. Flooding behind levees is only depicted if breaks in elevation data occur or if the levee elevations are overtopped by the water surface. At some flood levels, alternate pathways around—not through—levees, walls, dams, and flood gates may exist that allow water to flow into areas protected at lower levels. In general, imperfect levee and elevation data make assessing protection difficult, and small data errors can have large consequences. Citations 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report - Sweet, W.V., B.D. Hamlington, R.E. Kopp, C.P. Weaver, P.L. Barnard, D. Bekaert, W. Brooks, M. Craghan, G. Dusek, T. Frederikse, G. Garner, A.S. Genz, J.P. Krasting, E. Larour, D. Marcy, J.J. Marra, J. Obeysekera, M. Osler, M. Pendleton, D. Roman, L. Schmied, W. Veatch, K.D. White, and C. Zuzak, 2022: Global and Regional Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States: Updated Mean Projections and Extreme Water Level Probabilities Along U.S. Coastlines. NOAA Technical Report NOS 01. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, Silver Spring, MD, 111 pp. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/sealevelrise/noaa-nostechrpt01-global-regional-SLR-scenarios-US.pdf

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.

A seamless, three-meter digital elevation model (DEM) was constructed for the entire Southern California coastal zone, extending 473 km from Point Conception to the Mexican border. The goal was to integrate the most recent, high-resolution datasets available (for example, Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) topography, multibeam and single beam sonar bathymetry, and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IfSAR) topography) into a continuous surface from at least the 20-m isobath to the +20-m elevation contour.

This component of IFR Enroute Aeronautical Chart series is designed to meet the needs of users who require a high altitude digital version chart for the U.S. This version is in GEO-TIFF format.