New York Elevation ToolsOpen Sightline on the map →

Views · Tap two points

Line of sight between any two points in New York

Check the line of sight between two points anywhere in New York. The tool draws the ground profile between them with the sightline over it, allowing for earth curvature, and reports whether the view is clear, where it is first blocked and by how many feet.

Good for a view to the ocean or the Adirondacks, a point-to-point wireless link, and how high a building would need to rise to clear a ridge.

Sightline result with a profile showing whether the terrain rises above the line
Sightline 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 Sightline on the map →Pass prices and what’s included

Who uses this

  • Wireless and radio installers. Confirm terrain clearance for a point-to-point link.
  • Buyers and owners. Check a specific view from a deck or a window.

When to use it

  • Will this deck see the mountain, the ocean or the neighbor’s new barn?
  • Is there line of sight for a wireless link or a camera between two places?
  • How much would a building need to rise to clear a ridge?

Tools for your job

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

For the job: Views, privacy and line of sight

What can I see from here, and what can see me?

  1. 1.Viewshed — All the ground visible from one point, out to 5 miles.
  2. 2.Sightline (this tool) — Whether one point can see another, and where the view is blocked. Good for wireless links and cameras.

How to use it

  1. Open Sightline and tap the observer, then the target.
  2. Set the observer and target heights above ground.
  3. Check the line against bare-earth terrain. Trees and buildings are excluded.
  4. Finish the line. The panel draws the terrain profile with the sightline over it and reports clear or blocked.

Step by step: Mount Marcy

We check whether a point in the example area can see a point further down the mountain.

Two points joined by a line down the Mount Marcy summit area
1.Open Sightline and tap the observer (A), then the target (B). Choose Done.
Sightline result with a profile showing whether the terrain rises above the line
2.The panel shows the ground elevation at A and B, whether B is visible and, if not, how far from A the view is blocked and by how much the terrain rises above the line.

What it showed

  • If the view is blocked close to A, raising the eye height a little or stepping to the edge of the slope is often enough.
  • The same check works for a radio link or a camera: put A and B on the two masts.

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 bare-earth terrain is sampled along the straight line between the two points and compared with the line joining the two eye heights, with earth curvature and refraction applied. The first place the ground rises above that line is the blocking point, and the height by which it blocks is reported.

Reading the results

A block of 10 ft at a given distance means raising the observer or the target by about 10 ft would just clear the terrain there.

The profile shows every bump along the way, so you can see whether the block is a ridge or a small rise close to one end.

Limits and caveats

  • Trees and buildings along the line are not tested; check these obstructions separately.
  • Bare-earth terrain only. Buildings and trees are excluded from analysis.
  • 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.

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

Does it include trees and buildings?

No. The sightline is checked against bare-earth terrain only; trees and buildings must be checked separately.

Ready to try it?

Open Sightline 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.