Digital Surface & Elevation Models
High-resolution elevation, measured from airborne LiDAR at 50cm.
EarthDefine elevation models turn airborne LiDAR into a precise, ready-to-use picture of the land and everything on it. For any area of interest we deliver three co-registered layers at 50cm resolution: a surface model that captures buildings, trees, and terrain together; a bare-earth model with everything stripped back to the ground; and a height model that measures how tall every above-ground feature is. Because the data is measured by laser rather than estimated, the detail holds up even in rugged terrain and dense cities.
The same canyon, two ways: EarthDefine's 50cm elevation against the standard USGS national dataset. Higher resolution means real features: trails, ridgelines, and ravines instead of a smooth blur.
Every delivery includes three layers, all lined up on the same grid so they overlay exactly.
Digital Surface Model (DSM). The top of everything: buildings, trees, and terrain. Ideal for line-of-sight, viewsheds, and 3D city models. (Shown: Manhattan.)
This product helps you identify clearances or obstacles, or highest points on a surface (like roofs, trees, towers) that are Above Ground Level (AGL).
Bare Earth or Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The same place with structures and vegetation removed, leaving the ground itself: the basis for flood, drainage, and slope analysis. (Shown: Manhattan.)
This product helps you identify terrain elevation, or the bare-earth ground level relative to or Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL).
Heights or Normalized DSM (nDSM). How tall every above-ground feature stands, buildings and trees alike. (Shown: San Francisco.)
LiDAR elevation underpins a wide range of engineering and planning tasks, including:
Coverage is expanding nationwide. Tell us your area of interest and we'll prepare a sample and pricing quote.
Each area of interest comes as a set of co-registered 50cm rasters: a Digital Surface Model (DSM), a Digital Elevation Model (DEM, bare earth), and a normalized DSM (nDSM, heights above ground), plus the matching aerial imagery and a ready-to-open QGIS map file. Every layer shares the same grid and extent, so they overlay exactly.
DSM is the top of the surface, including buildings, vegetation, and structures. DEM is the bare-earth ground with those features removed. nDSM is the height of everything above the ground (bare ground reads about zero).
No. The nDSM measures the height of all above-ground features: buildings and structures as well as vegetation, not trees alone. For tree-specific heights, see our Canopy Height Model.
50cm (0.5 m) ground sample distance, delivered as GeoTIFFs (.tif) in 32-bit floating point. Vertical units are in feet and the NoData value is -9999.
Every layer is derived from airborne LiDAR, so each cell carries a measured elevation rather than an estimate. DSM and DEM are orthometric (height above sea level); nDSM values are relative heights above the ground.
Samples are for evaluation only and cannot be redistributed, resold, or used in production without a license. Contact us for licensing and pricing.
A DSM (digital surface model) captures the top of surfaces, including buildings and trees; a DEM (digital elevation model) is bare-earth ground elevation with those surfaces removed. EarthDefine provides both, plus object heights.
50cm ground resolution, measured from airborne LiDAR.
Terrain analysis, viewshed and line-of-sight studies, flood and drainage modelling, and RF planning.
Tell us your area of interest and our data experts will prepare a DEM/DSM sample and a coverage and pricing quote.
