New York Elevation ToolsOpen Add Elevation on the map →

Terrain · Click a point

Find the ground elevation at any point in New York

Get the elevation at a point in New York: click the map and the tool returns the ground elevation in feet, interpolated from the USGS 3DEP lidar elevation model.

A quick spot elevation for a floor level, a water tank, a pump or a survey check, and the difference between two places.

A spot elevation in the panel with the point marked on the map
Add Elevation on Mount Marcy. The walkthrough below shows how this was made.

Free to run · pay to download

Free to run, and free to save as a PNG image of the map. This tool has no file export of its own. For the terrain as a file, Download Data exports contours, a GeoTIFF or a 3D mesh with a pass: US$29 for 24 hours, US$99 for 30 days or US$399 for 12 months.

Open Add Elevation on the map →Pass prices and what’s included

Who uses this

  • Owners and plumbers. Work out the fall from a tank or a well to the house.
  • Surveyors. Sanity-check an elevation against the USGS model.

When to use it

  • You need a spot elevation for a floor level, a water tank, a pump or a survey check.
  • You want to confirm the elevation difference between two places quickly.

Tools for your job

Add Elevation is one step in a bigger question. These are the jobs it helps with, and the tools that go with it.

For the job: Plans, CAD, GIS and 3D printing

I need the terrain as a file.

  1. 1.Download Data — Contours, a GeoTIFF elevation model, a georeferenced aerial photo or a 3D mesh for printing.
  2. 2.Contour Lines — Contours previewed on the map before you export them.
  3. 3.Elevate a File — Adds ground elevation to your own GPX, KML, GeoJSON or CSV points.
  4. 4.Add Elevation (this tool) — A single spot elevation, for a floor level or a tank.
  5. 5.Terrain Stats — The highest, lowest and mean ground elevation of an area, and how the land is spread between them.

How to use it

  1. Open Add Elevation and click the map. The elevation appears in the panel and as a marker.
  2. Click again for another point. Use Elevation Profile for a whole line.

Step by step: Mount Marcy

We read a spot elevation on the Mount Marcy summit area.

The Add Elevation panel asking for a click on the map
1.Open Add Elevation and click anywhere.
A spot elevation in the panel with the point marked on the map
2.The panel shows the ground elevation in feet above NAVD 88 at the point, and the resolution it was read at. Click again to read another point.

What it showed

  • For a line of elevations, use Elevation Profile; for a whole file of points, use Elevate a File.

Screenshots from New York Elevation Tools. Imagery: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics, and the GIS User Community. Elevation data from USGS 3D Elevation Program. USGS 3DEP data is in the public domain (U.S. Government work).

Try it yourself on Mount Marcy →

How it works

The USGS 3DEP bare-earth model is sampled at the clicked coordinate, interpolating between the four nearest cells so the value is not snapped to a grid.

Reading the results

Feet above NAVD 88, which is close to mean sea level. Compare with a survey benchmark before using it for design elevations.

Limits and caveats

  • Where lidar has not been flown, the USGS 3DEP model falls back to its 1/3 arc-second layer, about 33 ft per pixel, and downloads state what share of the area came from it. That coarser model is not fit for site-scale decisions. Lidar coverage and source resolution vary across New York. Check your location against the USGS 3DEP index; no statewide coverage percentage is asserted. The fallback is rare.
  • Bare ground only. On a deck or a roof the value is the ground beneath it.

Data and attribution

Results come from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) bare-earth elevation model: lidar at 3.3 ft per pixel where it has been flown, and the 1/3 arc-second model, about 33 ft per pixel, elsewhere, with elevations above NAVD 88. This edition uses bare-earth terrain only. Buildings and trees are excluded.

USGS 3DEP elevation and USGS maps are U.S. Government works in the public domain. Credit the USGS 3D Elevation Program. NYS public tax parcels are assessment data provided as is, not surveys. Esri World Imagery follows its own terms and is display-only; downloaded aerial imagery comes from USGS NAIP.

Questions

Is this elevation above sea level?

It is feet above NAVD 88, the national vertical datum, which is close to mean sea level. Compare with a benchmark before using it for design elevations.

Ready to try it?

Open Add Elevation on the map →

Free to use, no account. The analysis runs in your browser on public-domain USGS 3DEP data. Downloading the results needs a pass: see pricing.