Elevation Data: Spatial Data: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Lab at MIT

Note: GIS software makes it easy to generate contour lines at the elevation interval of choice from digital elevation models (DEM). In ArcGIS one can use the Spatial Analyst or 3D Analyst extensions for surface analysis functions, including generating contour lines. More information is available at the ESRI overview of the raster surface toolkit. DEMs can also be displayed in 3D and used a surface to drape other layers and images in 3D, when utilizing software such as ArcScene (ArcGIS)

Massachusetts/ Boston area

Boston area lidar data from MASSGIS
Location: Rotch Library - GIS Collection | DVDROM G3764.B6A4 2002.B6
DVD-ROM includes First return and bare earth raster at 0.5 mtr resolution in TIFF format. DVDROM also includes building footprints with building height in Shapefile format. List of towns the lidar data partially or completely cover: Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, CAmbridge, Chelsea, Dedham, Everett, Medford, Milton, Needham, Newton, Quincy, Somerville, Waltham, Waterhown, Winthrop.
Also available in the MIT Geodata Repository

MassGIS 1:5,000 elevation and shaded relief
Location: Rotch Library - GIS Collection | CDROM G3761.C2 2005.M37
This raster layer represents surface elevation for Massachusetts. Cellsize is 5 meters by 5 meters.

MassGIS point elevation data
Location: Rotch Library - GIS Collection | CDROM G3761.A25 2001.M46
The points in this layer were created using Digital Terrain Model (DTM) data points collected during the production of the 1:5000 Black and White Digital Orthophoto images (1992 - 1999).

Statewide mosaic of scanned USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle maps
Location: Rotch Library - GIS Collection | CDROM G3761.A25 2001.M47
a digital seamless mosaic of all the quads in the state, stored in the MrSID image format

Boston Redevelopment Authority Maps/ Aerial phots - includes links to downloadable 3D cad models

United States

The National Elevation Dataset (NED)
downloadable from: http://seamless.usgs.gov and http://nationalmap.gov

The National Elevation Dataset (NED) is assembled by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) using data from the USGS's 7.5-minute and 15-minute digital elevation products. It is a raster product designed to provide National elevation data in a seamless form with a consistent datum, elevation unit, and projection. As higher-resolution or higher-quality data become available, the NED 1 Arc Second is periodically updated to incorporate best-available coverage. The NED is available for the conterminous US, HI, Puerto Rico, the American Virgin Islands, Territorial Islands at a resolution of 1 arc-second (approx. 30 meters) and for Alaska at a resolution of 2 arc-second (approx. 60m). Free downloads, up to 250 MB increments, are available in the following formats: ArcGrid, Bil*, TIFF**, GridFloat***

NED 1/3 Arc Second has a resolution of (approximately 10 meters)

NED 1/9 Arc Second has a resolution of (approx. 3 meters). The source is Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data.

Aster global digital elevation model (30 meter resolution for the globe):
http://reverb.echo.nasa.gov
More about this dataset at: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/aster-20090629.html

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
downloadable from: http://seamless.usgs.gov and http://nationalmap.gov

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is a joint project between NASA and NGA (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) to map the world in three dimensions. Flown aboard the NASA Space Shuttle Endeavour February 11-22, 2000, SRTM successfully collected data over 80% of the Earth's land surface, for all area between 60 degrees N and 56 degrees S latitude. Data is available for the USA at a resolution of 1 Arc Seconds (approx. 30 meters).

Global

Aster global digital elevation model (30 meter resolution for the globe):
http://reverb.echo.nasa.gov
More about this dataset at: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/aster-20090629.html

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) (Data resolution of 3 Arc Seconds (approx. 90 meters)

downloadable from: http://seamless.usgs.gov or CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information (use the downloadable kml index file in Google Earth to find your area of interest) or Rotch Library - GIS Collection |CDROM G70.212.E775 2006. Data is available for the world at a resolution of 3 Arc Seconds (approx. 90 meters).

GTOPO30- a free global digital elevation model (DEM) with a horizontal grid spacing of 30 arc seconds (approximately 1 kilometer). Also available in Rotch Library - GIS Collection |CDROM G70.212.E775 2005

ETOPO2
Location: ESRI data and Maps DVDs, Rotch Library - GIS Collection |CDROM G70.212.E775 2005
Global Digital Elevation Model (ETOPO2) represents gridded (2 minute by 2 minute) elevation and bathymetry for the world. These data were derived from the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) ETOPO2 Global 2' Elevations data set from September 2001. The VALUE attribute represents the elevation in meters.

Digital Chart of the World - contains files for the world at 1:1,000,000 scale. Elevation points and contour lines are available in the MIT Geodata Repository (catalog ids: int_c28elev_2004 and int_c28contours_2004) and on DVD as part of the "Global planner" dataset: Location Rotch Library - Circulation Desk | DVDROM G3200 2004.T63

Global Planner - Global Planner comprises multiple datasets covering the world. Visit the finding aid for more information.:

1:500,000 scale topographic maps of the world from the Russian military
- use the index in the GP500_World_ArcView Folder
Digital Chart of the World (vector files at 1:1,000,000 scale)
and USGS geologic data