Data:Coastal DEMs

Coastal DEMs dataset information page

Short Description

Color hillshade of Monterey, CA coastal DEM

Statement: High-resolution, integrated bathymetric-topographic relief models of U.S. coastal communities; 1/3 arc-second (~10 m) cell size and coarser

Abstract: NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) builds and distributes high-resolution, coastal digital elevation models (DEMs) that integrate ocean bathymetry and land topography to support NOAA's mission to understand and predict changes in Earth's environment, and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet our Nation's economic, social, and environmental needs. They can be used for modeling of coastal processes (tsunami inundation, storm surge, sea-level rise, contaminant dispersal, etc.), ecosystems management and habitat research, coastal and marine spatial planning, and hazard mitigation and community preparedness.

Bathymetric, topographic, and shoreline data used in DEM compilation are obtained from various sources, including NCEI, the U.S. National Ocean Service (NOS), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other federal, state, and local government agencies, academic institutions, and private companies. DEMs cell size ranges from 1/9 arc-second (~3 meters) to 36 arc-seconds (~1 km).

Data format

Data type:	Topography
Data origin:	Modeled
Data format:	GeoTIFF, NetCDF
Other format:
Data resolution:	1/9 arc-second (~3 meter) cell size and coarser
Datum:	NAD 83 or WGS 84 geographic (horizontal); NAVD 88 or MHW (vertical)

Data Coverage

Spatial data coverage: U.S. coastal communities
Temporal data coverage: Time averaged
Time period covered: roughly 1950s to present

Availability

Download data: https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/thredds/demCatalog.html
Data source: https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/coastal/coastal.html

References

Additional data access via NOAA Digital Coast Data Access Viewer

https://chs.coast.noaa.gov/htdata/raster2/elevation/NCEI_third_Topobathy_2014_8580/ https://chs.coast.noaa.gov/htdata/raster2/elevation/NCEI_ninth_Topobathy_2014_8483/

Metadata: https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC/MGG/DEM/iso/