Elevation API

Create your account and an API key in the dashboard. Send the key in the X-API-Key header or as Authorization: Bearer. The same key works for point lookups, lists and paths. There is no token exchange or refresh step.

A point lookup, a local batch of up to 512 points, or a local path with up to 512 samples uses one API request from your monthly allowance. All three modes are available on every plan. Choose your request allowance on Plans.

Use lat and lon for one location. Use points for up to 512 points per local batch from coordinates you already have. The response preserves their order and any duplicates. Use path with samples to generate evenly spaced coordinates along 2-512 supplied vertices. Choose one input mode per request. Each batch has a maximum 25 km span between any two coordinates and a 12-terrain-file limit, including possible fallback files. Send spread-out routes in shorter sections.

Set samples to an integer from 2 to 512. The response contains exactly that many coordinates and heights, equally spaced by cumulative distance and including both endpoints. Each segment follows the shortest great-circle arc between your vertices. Elevation comes from the nearest grid sample at each generated coordinate. Both your vertices and the samples must stay within the 25 km span; sampled coordinates must fit the 12-terrain-file budget, including possible fallback files. The span limit does not cap cumulative route length.

Yes, when you supply the coordinates that describe it. Pass your route geometry as path and choose the sample count. Elevation follows those segments. It does not find a route or snap a straight line onto nearby roads. Include the bends you want the profile to follow.

Yes. GET accepts latitude,longitude pairs separated by a pipe, or enc: followed by an encoded polyline at precision 5. URL-encode the value. For longer inputs, POST a JSON points or path array using [latitude, longitude] pairs, with samples for a path. The same local batch limits apply: up to 512 points or samples, a maximum 25 km span, and at most 12 terrain files including possible fallback files.

Across land and ocean worldwide. Fine land samples use about 30 m grid spacing. Ocean depth and locations without a usable fine sample use the global grid at about 460 m. Read resolution on each result to see which spacing supplied the height.

Yes. Send the latitude and longitude from your device to get terrain height at that location. The answer is a sample of the land or seafloor. It does not track the live altitude of your device or an aircraft above the terrain.

elevation and elevation_ft give height in meters and feet relative to EGM2008, with negative values below sea level. Coordinates use WGS84. resolution is horizontal grid spacing, not vertical accuracy. Buildings and vegetation can contribute to land height. These grid samples suit maps and profiles. A land survey needs more precise measurement.

A completed lookup with no terrain sample returns null for elevation and elevation_ft. Zero is a valid height, and negative values are valid below sea level. A temporary failure to retrieve data returns HTTP 503 service_unavailable. An unexpected internal failure returns HTTP 500 server_error. Handle errors separately from missing samples.

Invalid requests return HTTP 400. Latitude must be from -90 to 90 and longitude from -180 to 180. Keep to one input mode and the point and sample limits. Put POST coordinates and samples in the JSON body. A path segment joining exact opposite points on Earth needs an intermediate vertex.

Yes. Add format=geojson to a GET or POST request. A single coordinate returns a Point Feature. Lists and sampled paths return an ordered FeatureCollection. Geometry uses longitude,latitude. Heights in meters and feet stay in properties with the grid spacing. The same limits and request allowance apply.

Use the Point API for country, state, district and timezone. Add deep=true for elevation and a compact nearest-city summary on paid plans.