Phase 2 elevation and height explorer
Click to the map to sample the elevation and surface height for locations inside New Circle Road, Lexington, Kentucky. Save the collection of samples or refresh page to remove them.
Urban Observation Tower with number of floors and access type. View the city above
street level.
Sample created by clicking map. Marker shows height above ground in feet.
Elevation and surface heights stored in GeoJSON.
Data derived from LiDAR collected in 2019 and provided KyFromAbove and the Kentucky Division of Geographic Information (DGI). Building footprints © OpenStreetMap Contributors. Analysis by UKy Department of Geography and Boyd Shearer.
The digital surface model (DSM) was calculated using the highest first-return in a 2-foot resolution raster. The DSM was converted to a RGB terrain model showing surface elevations encoded as colors. The encoding is
e = (r * 256) + g + (b / 256)
This encoding works for Lexington's range of surface elevations, has a sub-inch precision, and can be interpreted by MapLibre as a ground surface on which to drape features. A shaded relief map of the DSM with tree canopy cover height is the default base map. In terrain mode, the map becomes a 3D surface showing relative heights of features.
Height is calculated by subtracting the elevation of the DSM from the elevation of the digital elevation model (DEM) maintained on kyraster.ky.gov. The DEM is a 2-foot resolution raster that models bare-earth ground elevation. Discrepancies between observed and sampled heights can occur from DEM interpolation in large areas where above-ground features were removed and DSM artifacts and noise.
Subtract one floor when estimating observation tower heights by counting floors. The ground floor is counted as the first floor. Some towers have additional floors above the highest observation deck.
Summer 2025