Elevation (Vietnam) API

Terrain elevation in metres for any point in Vietnam and nearby (Copernicus DEM 90 m): one point, 100 points or a path profile with gain and loss.

GETPOSThttps://apibox.io.vn/v1/elevation

Data & JSON▶ Try it online

lat + lon returns the height above mean sea level (EGM2008 geoid) at that point, interpolated bilinearly between the four surrounding samples of the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 grid (3 arc-seconds, about 90 m). points takes up to 100 points ([[lat, lon], …], [{lat, lon}] or lat,lon|lat,lon). path (a polyline of up to 100 vertices, or a GeoJSON LineString) with samples (2–500, default 100) returns an elevation profile at evenly spaced distances plus start / end / min / max height, total gain and loss and the steepest grade.

Coverage: the box 8–24° N, 102–110° E (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and parts of Thailand and southern China). The open sea has no DEM tile and returns 0 (source: "ocean"); points outside the box return null (out_of_coverage). The DEM is a surface model: it includes buildings and forest canopy, so heights in cities and forests are a few metres above the ground, and narrow peaks are smoothed (Fansipan reads about 3 100 m for 3 143 m).

Licence: Copernicus DEM, free for commercial use with the attribution returned in attribution (keep it visible). The tiles are static: they are rebuilt only when Copernicus publishes a new release.

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Default
`lat`	query	number	no		Latitude of one point (with `lon`).
`lon`	query	number	no		Longitude (`lng` accepted).
`points`	body\|query	array	no		Up to 100 points: `[[lat, lon], …]`, `[{lat, lon}]` or `lat,lon\|lat,lon`.
`path`	body\|query	array	no		Polyline (2–100 vertices, same formats, or a GeoJSON LineString) for an elevation profile.
`samples`	body\|query	number	no	`100`	Profile samples along `path` (2–500).

Example

curl -X POST "https://apibox.io.vn/v1/elevation" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"path":[[22.3367,103.8438],[22.3033,103.775]],"samples":50}'

const res = await fetch('https://apibox.io.vn/v1/elevation', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "path": [
      [
        22.3367,
        103.8438
      ],
      [
        22.3033,
        103.775
      ]
    ],
    "samples": 50
  }),
});
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://apibox.io.vn/v1/elevation",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={"path": [[22.3367, 103.8438], [22.3033, 103.775]], "samples": 50},
    timeout=30,
)
print(res.json())

<?php
$ch = curl_init('https://apibox.io.vn/v1/elevation');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY', 'Content-Type: application/json'],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => '{"path":[[22.3367,103.8438],[22.3033,103.775]],"samples":50}',
]);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
print_r(json_decode($response, true));

Response

{
  "distance_m": 7992.4,
  "samples": 50,
  "spacing_m": 163.1,
  "summary": {
    "start_m": 1507.1,
    "end_m": 3101.9,
    "min_m": 1246.9,
    "max_m": 3101.9,
    "gain_m": 2066.2,
    "loss_m": 471.4,
    "max_grade_percent": 78.8
  },
  "profile": [
    {
      "distance_m": 0,
      "lat": 22.3367,
      "lon": 103.8438,
      "elevation_m": 1507.1
    },
    {
      "distance_m": 163.1,
      "lat": 22.336018,
      "lon": 103.842396,
      "elevation_m": 1501.7
    },
    "…",
    {
      "distance_m": 7992.4,
      "lat": 22.3033,
      "lon": 103.775,
      "elevation_m": 3101.9
    }
  ],
  "note": "Copernicus DEM GLO-90 is a surface model (3 arc-seconds, ~90 m): heights include buildings and trees, relative to the EGM2008 geoid (≈ mean sea level); typical error a few metres, more on steep slopes. Ocean = 0. …",
  "coverage": {
    "south": 8,
    "north": 24,
    "west": 102,
    "east": 110,
    "note": "Vietnam and neighbouring areas for now"
  },
  "data_version": "20261111",
  "attribution": "Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-90 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. The organisations in charge of the Copernicus programme by law or by delegation do not incur any liability for any use of the Copernicus WorldDEM-90."
}

Use cases

Show the altitude of a property or farm plot from its coordinates
Draw the elevation profile and total climb of a running or cycling route
Estimate flood exposure by comparing ground heights in a district
Plan telecom or survey sites in mountainous provinces

FAQ

How accurate is it?

Copernicus GLO-90 has a typical vertical error of a few metres on flat open ground, more on steep slopes; at 90 m spacing it cannot see small hills, embankments or single buildings.

Why is the value higher than the ground in a city?

It is a digital surface model: roofs and tree tops are part of the surface. Use it for terrain, not for the floor level of a building.

Will other countries be added?

The first version covers Vietnam and its neighbours. The same pipeline can extend the box later.

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Elevation (Vietnam) API

Parameters

Example

Response

Use cases

FAQ

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