How to Find the Elevation of Any Location
Whether you're planning a hiking route, scoping a construction site, checking whether a property sits above a flood zone, or planning a drone flight, knowing the elevation of a specific location is useful information that's often harder to get quickly than it should be. Google Maps shows terrain visually but won't tell you a specific height. Topographic maps require interpretation. Asking someone usually just results in a rough estimate.
GeoTools Elevation Finder returns the ground elevation for any set of GPS coordinates, in metres above sea level, directly in your browser.
What elevation data is and where it comes from
The elevation data you get from online tools comes from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) — large-scale datasets that represent the Earth's surface as a grid of height values. The two most commonly used global datasets are:
- SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission): Collected during an 11-day Space Shuttle mission in February 2000, SRTM covers most of the Earth's landmass between 60°N and 56°S at roughly 30-metre horizontal resolution. It remains the baseline for most global elevation lookups and is freely available. SRTM measures the surface of whatever is on the ground — so in forested areas, it reflects tree canopy height rather than bare ground.
- ASTER GDEM (Global Digital Elevation Model): A joint NASA/METI product derived from satellite stereo imagery, ASTER provides global coverage at 30-metre resolution including polar regions not covered by SRTM. Vertical accuracy is broadly comparable to SRTM, though the datasets have slightly different error characteristics in different terrain types.
For higher-accuracy applications — engineering design, precise flood modelling, or detailed infrastructure planning — LiDAR-based elevation data (where available) is significantly more accurate. Most country mapping agencies provide LiDAR-derived datasets for urban and critical areas, though coverage varies widely.
When elevation matters — practical use cases
- Hiking and outdoor activities: Looking up the elevation of a trailhead, a campsite, or a summit before a trip lets you plan for altitude, pack appropriate gear, and understand the ascent profile of a route. At elevations above 2,500m, altitude sickness becomes a real consideration for people not acclimatised to high altitude.
- Flood risk assessment: Insurance assessors, property buyers, and planners use elevation as a first indicator of flood exposure. A property at 2m above sea level near a river behaves very differently from one at 8m in terms of flood risk — though proper flood risk assessment requires more than elevation alone.
- Construction and civil works: Knowing the natural ground level at a site informs earthworks calculations, retaining wall design, drainage planning, and the depth of foundations needed. Even a quick online check can confirm whether a site is broadly flat or involves significant cut-and-fill.
- Drone operations: Commercial drone regulations in Australia (CASA) and many other jurisdictions set altitude limits relative to the ground surface, not sea level. Operators need to know the ground elevation under their flight path to calculate their absolute altitude ceiling.
- Telecommunications and line of sight: Radio and microwave links between two points require clear line of sight. Elevation profiles between two locations reveal whether terrain will block a proposed signal path — important for rural communications planning and emergency services infrastructure.
Accuracy expectations: Global DEM data has vertical accuracy of approximately ±5–10 metres in flat terrain, worse in steep or heavily forested areas. For rough screening and planning, this is typically sufficient. For engineering design or precise flood mapping, consult authoritative local datasets.
How to look up elevation with GeoTools
Open the Elevation Finder
Go to edgeworksapps.com/geotools/elevation-finder.html. No sign-in required.
Enter your location
Type GPS coordinates in decimal degrees format — for example -33.8688, 151.2093 for Sydney, Australia — or search by place name. The map will centre on your location. You can also click directly on the map to get elevation at any point.
Read the result
The tool returns the elevation in metres above sea level (WGS84 ellipsoid reference). For the Sydney CBD example above, the result is approximately 10–12 metres, consistent with its position near sea level on the harbour.
Understanding the reference datum
All elevation values from GeoTools are expressed relative to the WGS84 ellipsoid — the reference surface used by GPS. This is slightly different from Mean Sea Level (MSL), which is the more intuitive reference most people think of when they hear "above sea level." The difference between ellipsoidal height and orthometric (sea level) height varies by location — in Australia it ranges from about +15 to +50 metres across the continent.
For most practical purposes — hiking, site screening, rough flood risk checks — this difference is not significant. If you're working on a project where the distinction between ellipsoidal height and orthometric height matters, consult a licensed surveyor using local datum corrections.
Look up an elevation now
Enter any coordinates or click the map — instant result, no account required.
Open Elevation Finder →