ELEVATION DATA · STAC API

Global public lidarthrough one API.

Lidar-grade elevation where it exists, global coverage everywhere else. Get a number in one call — or search the normalized STAC catalog and stream the COGs yourself, from Python, QGIS, or production.

▸ Developers

One key. Two APIs. No SDK.

Elevations from the finest public lidar covering each point, and a standards-compliant STAC catalog your existing tools already speak. Plain HTTP — curl it, script it, or point an LLM at llms.txt.

Elevation in one call

Lidar-grade where we have it, global 30 m everywhere else — the response tells you which source answered.

curl "https://api.darly.io/v1/elevation/point?lat=45.51&lon=-73.56" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $DARLY_API_KEY"
Elevation API reference

The catalog is just STAC

pystac-client, QGIS, GDAL, STAC Browser, STAC Map — no key needed to search footprints and metadata.

from pystac_client import Client

catalog = Client.open("https://api.darly.io")
search = catalog.search(
    collections=["can-nrcan-hrdem-1m"],
    bbox=[-123.3, 49.1, -122.9, 49.4],
    max_items=5,
)
for item in search.items():
    print(item.id, item.assets["dtm"].href)
STAC API reference
▸ Why Darly

Convenience on top. Control all the way down.

Hosted elevation APIs give you a number and a source label. Agency portals give you raw tiles and the wrangling. Darly is the whole stack — an application-ready API on an open STAC catalog, so every answer traces to a source you can search, inspect, and stream yourself.

02

Application ready

Elevation API

Just want the number? Elevations for any point or area in one call, resolved from the finest available source — nothing to manage.

PointBatchPathGeoTIFF
Use the Elevation API
01

Catalog & assets

Normalized STAC foundation

For those who want control: search the normalized catalog, pick your exact sources, and stream the COGs — one schema, no per-agency accounts.

SearchMetadataCoverageCOGs
Use the STAC API
00

Source data

Public elevation programs

National lidar programs and global elevation models — superb data, scattered across agency portals, each with its own formats, metadata, and logins.

USGS 3DEPNRCan HRDEMINEGIGlobal 30 m
Explore coverage

Browse free. Pay for data out.

The catalog is open to everyone, and the Elevation API is free to start — paid plans add Darly-hosted downloads and full-size raster extracts.