Skip to content

Elevation API

Free

Starter

Standard

Professional

The Stadia Maps elevation API allows you to get the elevation of any point on earth. You can query at a single point or build a profile along a shape.

Endpoint: https://api.stadiamaps.com/elevation/v1

Getting an elevation profile for a route?

Our routing API can return an elevation profile along the route if you set the elevation_interval parameter. This has special handling for bridges and tunnels, which is not possible in the Elevation API. Data from the routing API is sampled at 30m from the original sources, so if you need a higher sampling resolution, use the Elevation API instead.

Refer to the elevation section of our routing guide to learn how to get elevation with a route.

Example Code

Installation Instructions

The Stadia Maps JavaScript/TypeScript SDK is available for any package manager that supports the npm registry.

NPM Downloads

npm install @stadiamaps/api
yarn add @stadiamaps/api
bun add @stadiamaps/api
import { GeospatialApi, Configuration } from '@stadiamaps/api';

// If you are writing for a backend application or can't use domain-based auth,
// then you'll need to add your API key like so:
// 
// const config = new Configuration({ apiKey: "YOUR-API-KEY" }); (1)
// You can also use our EU endpoint to keep traffic within the EU using the basePath option:
// const config = new Configuration({ basePath: "https://api-eu.stadiamaps.com" });
// const api = new GeospatialApi(config);
const api = new GeospatialApi();

// Example of a point request. You can also pass multiple geographic coordinates in a list or a Google
// encoded Polyline via the encodedPolyline parameter.
const req = {id: "Seoul", shape: [{lat: 37.56, lon: 126.99}]};
const res = await api.elevation({ heightRequest: req });
  1. Learn how to get an API key in our authentication guide.
Installation Instructions

The Stadia Maps Python SDK is available through any package manager that supports PyPi.

PyPI - Downloads

pip install stadiamaps
poetry add stadiamaps
import os
import stadiamaps
from stadiamaps.rest import ApiException

# You can also use our EU endpoint to keep traffic within the EU like so:
# configuration = stadiamaps.Configuration(host="https://api-eu.stadiamaps.com")
configuration = stadiamaps.Configuration()

# Configure API key authentication (ex: via environment variable). (1)
configuration.api_key['ApiKeyAuth'] = os.environ["API_KEY"]

with stadiamaps.ApiClient(configuration) as api_client:
    # Create an instance of the API class
    api_instance = stadiamaps.GeospatialApi(api_client)

    try:
        # Example of a point request. You can also pass multiple geographic coordinates in a list or a Google
        # encoded Polyline via the encoded_polyline parameter.
        req = stadiamaps.HeightRequest(id="Seoul", shape=[stadiamaps.Coordinate(lat=37.56, lon=126.99)])
        res = api_instance.elevation(req)
    except ApiException as e:
        # Add your error handling here
        print("Exception when calling the Stadia Maps API: %s\n" % e)
  1. Learn how to get an API key in our authentication guide.
Installation Instructions

If aren't already using Maven Central, add the repository in your Gradle build script.

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

Then, add the API package and its dependencies.

build.gradle.kts
dependencies {
    val retrofitVersion = "2.11.0"

    // API package
    implementation("com.stadiamaps:api:3.2.1")

    // Dependencies
    implementation("com.squareup.moshi:moshi-kotlin:1.14.0")
    implementation("com.squareup.moshi:moshi-adapters:1.14.0")
    implementation("com.squareup.okhttp3:logging-interceptor:4.10.0")
    implementation("com.squareup.retrofit2:retrofit:$retrofitVersion")
    implementation("com.squareup.retrofit2:converter-moshi:$retrofitVersion")
    implementation("com.squareup.retrofit2:converter-scalars:$retrofitVersion")
}
build.gradle
dependencies {
    def retrofitVersion = "2.11.0"

    // API package
    implementation 'com.stadiamaps:api:3.2.1'

    // Dependencies
    implementation 'com.squareup.moshi:moshi-kotlin:1.15.1'
    implementation 'com.squareup.moshi:moshi-adapters:1.15.1'
    implementation 'com.squareup.okhttp3:logging-interceptor:4.10.0'
    implementation "com.squareup.retrofit2:retrofit:${retrofitVersion}"
    implementation "com.squareup.retrofit2:converter-moshi:${retrofitVersion}"
    implementation "com.squareup.retrofit2:converter-scalars:${retrofitVersion}"
}

Our API package is available on Maven Central. All you need to do is add a few dependencies to your pom.xml.

pom.xml
<properties>
    <retrofit.version>2.9.0</retrofit.version>
</properties>

<dependencies>
    <!-- API package -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.stadiamaps</groupId>
        <artifactId>api</artifactId>
        <version>3.2.1</version>
    </dependency>

    <!-- Dependencies -->
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.squareup.moshi</groupId>
        <artifactId>moshi-kotlin</artifactId>
        <version>1.15.1</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.squareup.moshi</groupId>
        <artifactId>moshi-adapters</artifactId>
        <version>1.15.1</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.squareup.okhttp3</groupId>
        <artifactId>logging-interceptor</artifactId>
        <version>4.10.0</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.squareup.retrofit2</groupId>
        <artifactId>retrofit</artifactId>
        <version>${retrofit.version}</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.squareup.retrofit2</groupId>
        <artifactId>converter-moshi</artifactId>
        <version>${retrofit.version}</version>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.squareup.retrofit2</groupId>
        <artifactId>converter-scalars</artifactId>
        <version>${retrofit.version}</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
// Imports (at the top of your source file; we've used some wildcard imports for simplicity)
import com.stadiamaps.api.apis.*
import com.stadiamaps.api.auth.ApiKeyAuth
import com.stadiamaps.api.infrastructure.*
import com.stadiamaps.api.models.*

// Set your API key (from an environment variable in this case) (1)
val apiKey = System.getenv("STADIA_API_KEY") ?: throw RuntimeException("API Key not set")

// Defining the host is optional and defaults to https://api.stadiamaps.com
// You can also use our EU endpoint to keep traffic within the EU like so:
// val client = ApiClient(baseUrl = "https://api-eu.stadiamaps.com")
val client = ApiClient()
client.addAuthorization("ApiKeyAuth", ApiKeyAuth("query", "api_key", apiKey))

// Configure a service for the group of APIs we want to talk to
val service = client.createService(GeospatialApi::class.java)

// Set up the request.
// Note: this code is blocking for demonstration purposes.
// If you're using Kotlin with coroutines,
// you can also use these asynchronously within suspend functions.
// Synchronous code can enqueue a callback to avoid blocking
// (you'll definitely want to do one of these instead when on the main thread of an app).
// See the docs for details: https://square.github.io/retrofit/2.x/retrofit/retrofit2/Call.html
val req = HeightRequest(id = "Seoul", shape = listOf(Coordinate(37.56, 126.99)))
val res = service.elevation(req).execute()

if (res.isSuccessful) {
    println("Found result: ${res.body()}")
} else {
    println("Request failed with error code ${res.code()}")
}
  1. Learn how to get an API key in our authentication guide.
Installation Instructions

Our Swift SDK is distributed using the Swift Package Manager (SPM). Apple's documentation shows how to add a Swift Package dependency to your Xcode project. On the Add Package screen, you can find our package by its repository URL: https://github.com/stadiamaps/stadiamaps-api-swift.

import StadiaMaps

// This setup code can go anywhere before you actually make an API call (typically in your app init)
func setupStadiaMapsAPI() {
    // Set your API key (1)
    StadiaMapsAPI.customHeaders = ["Authorization": "Stadia-Auth YOUR-API-KEY"]
    // Optionally use our EU endpoint to keep traffic within the EU
    // StadiaMapsAPI.basePath = "https://api-eu.stadiamaps.com"
}

// This function demonstrates how to call the Stadia Maps API.
// If you have not yet adopted async/await in your Swift codebase, you can use the Task API
// to call async functions in a non-async context: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swift/task.
func myFunction() async throws {
    let req = HeightRequest(id: "Seoul", shape: [Coordinate(lat: 37.56, lon: 126.99)])
    let res = try await GeospatialAPI.elevation(heightRequest: req)

    // Do something with the response...
    print(res)
}
  1. Learn how to get an API key in our authentication guide.
Installation Instructions

Composer

To install the package via Composer, add stadiamaps/stadiamaps-api-php to your composer.json:

{
  "require": {
    "stadiamaps/stadiamaps-api-php": "1.*"
  }
}

Then run composer install.

Manual Installation

You can also download the files manually and include autoload.php in your scripts:

<?php
require_once('/path/to/OpenAPIClient-php/vendor/autoload.php');
<?php
// use or require, depending on your installation method.

// Configure API key authorization (replace with your Stadia Maps API key) (1)
$config = OpenAPI\Client\Configuration::getDefaultConfiguration()->setApiKey('api_key', 'YOUR-API-KEY');
// You can also use our EU endpoint to keep traffic within the EU using setHost:
// $config = Configuration::getDefaultConfiguration()->setApiKey('api_key', 'YOUR-API-KEY')->setHost('https://api-eu.stadiamaps.com');

$apiInstance = new OpenAPI\Client\Api\GeospatialApi(
    new GuzzleHttp\Client(),
    $config
);

try {
    $req = (new HeightRequest())
        ->setId('Seoul')
        ->setShape([new Coordinate(array('lon' => 126.99, 'lat' => 37.56))]);
    $result = $apiInstance->elevation($req);
} catch (Exception $e) {
    // Add your error handling here
    echo 'Exception when calling the Stadia Maps API: ', $e->getMessage(), PHP_EOL;
}
  1. Learn how to get an API key in our authentication guide.
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
  "id": "Seoul",
  "shape": [
    {
      "lat": 37.56,
      "lon": 126.99
    }
  ]
}' "https://api.stadiamaps.com/elevation/v1?api_key=YOUR-API-KEY"

Common Request Body Parameters

This endpoint accepts request parameters via a JSON encoded POST body. Either shape or encoded_polyline is required.

Parameter Type Required Description Default Example
id string no An identifier to disambiguate requests (echoed by the server). none Seoul
shape array of objects no* An array of geographic coordinates. none [{lat: 37.56, lon: 126.99}]
encoded_polyline string no* An encoded polyline. none Manhattan
shape_format string no Specifies whether the polyline is encoded with 5 (polyline5) or 6 (polyline6) digits of precision. polyline6 polyline6

Example Response

JSON Response
{
  "id": "Seoul",
  "shape": [
    {
      "lat": 37.56,
      "lon": 126.99
    }
  ],
  "height": [
    52
  ]
}

Next Steps