ELEVATION DATA · STAC API

Global public lidarthrough one API.

Darly indexes national lidar programs into normalized STAC Items with consistent metadata, coverage footprints, and streamable COG assets, so GIS teams can find and load elevation data directly from Python, QGIS, or production pipelines.

▸ 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.

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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
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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
▸ Pricing

Browse free. Pay for data out.

The STAC catalog is browsable by anyone — no signup, no API key. Sign in free to call the Elevation API; paid plans add Darly-hosted COG downloads and full-size raster extracts. Paid plans are coming soon — join the waitlist to hear first.

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Free
02
Advanced
COMING SOON
03
Custom
Price
Freeno card
$199/ month
Let's talk
Best for
Prototyping, personal projects
Production workloads
Bulk exports, SLAs, new datasets
Elevation lookups
10,000 / month
5,000,000 / month
Custom
Data out
500 MB / month
250 GB / month
Custom
Raster extracts
Preview (512 px)
Full size (2,500 px)
Larger sizes
COG downloads
Support
Community
Priority
Dedicated

Pro and Advanced are coming soon. Leave your email and we'll let you know the moment paid plans open — nothing else, no newsletter.

Elevation lookups are counted per point (a batch of 512 points is 512 lookups; batches up to 512 points on paid plans). Errors and rate-limited calls are never charged, and there are no overage bills. Data out covers raster extracts and Darly-hosted COG downloads. Fair-use per-minute burst limits apply — see the docs.