North Carolina Elevation ToolsOpen Add Elevation on the map →

Terrain · Click a point

Find the ground elevation at any point in North Carolina

Get the elevation at a point in North Carolina: 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.

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: Grandfather Mountain

We read a spot elevation on Grandfather Mountain’s flank.

1.Open Add Elevation and click anywhere.

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.
Try it yourself on Grandfather Mountain →

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. USGS 3DEP serves lidar-derived elevation across North Carolina: 3.3 ft per pixel where a full-resolution lidar survey exists, about 9.8 ft per pixel where the model is built from older lidar. 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. Every tool is bare earth: trees and buildings are not in the elevation model for North Carolina, so Sunlight, Viewshed and Sightline work from the terrain alone.

USGS 3DEP elevation data and USGS maps are U.S. Government works in the public domain: you may use the results, including commercially. A credit to the USGS 3D Elevation Program is appreciated, and every file you download carries it. County parcel boundaries are the assessor's GIS data compiled by NC OneMap, not surveys, and the county that published each parcel is named with it. The aerial basemap is from Esri and follows Esri's terms; it is not included in downloads.

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.