Nature · Yosemite · bounded summit and south-facing slopes
El Capitan: terrain elevation and local relief
El Capitan uses an approximately 2,322-meter surface estimate in EGM2008 from Copernicus GLO-30. The bounded terrain section has about 1,129 meters of local relief above its lowest sampled point. Published summit surveys are separate references.
≈ 2,322 m
Data-derived estimate- Measurement
- Highest sampled surface in the documented Copernicus terrain section · EGM2008
- Subject or version
- Yosemite · bounded summit and south-facing slopes
- In feet, rounded
- 7,619.2 ft (1 ft = 0.3048 m)
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Terrain boundary, base and datum
- Vertical reference
- EGM2008. Published surveys are separate; no datum conversion is applied.
- Highest sampled surface
- 2322.3 m at 37.734444°, -119.637778°.
- Local base
- 1193.5 m at 37.721944°, -119.647778°. Lowest sampled point within this bounded terrain section.
- Section bounds in WGS84-G1150
- West -119.648472°, east -119.625694°; south 37.707083°, north 37.735139°.
- View and scale
- Orthographic map section facing north. Equal horizontal and vertical map scales. Approximate grid spacing: 24.5 m east-west and 30.8 m north-south. Lower and surrounding terrain omitted.
produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved
A little more perspective
The National Park Service’s Yosemite map labels El Capitan at 7,569 feet, approximately 2,307 meters. This Copernicus maximum is approximately 2,322 meters in EGM2008 near the selected summit-area coordinate. A surface model can include vegetation and need not equal the mapped elevation of a named point. The northern boundary excludes the higher inland plateau. This section’s local relief is not a surveyed height of El Capitan’s climbing wall.
The local-relief view subtracts the lowest sampled point in this section: 1193.5 meters at 37.721944° latitude, -119.647778° longitude. This produces about 1,129 meters of relief within the stated boundary. It is not a universal mountain base, a route’s total ascent, or topographic prominence.
The rendered surface uses the public 2021 Copernicus release, primarily based on TanDEM-X observations from 2011–2015 with infill from other sources. It is a surface model rather than a current bare-earth survey. Neutral shading explains the geometry without claiming a snow season or photographic ground texture. No datum conversion or summit correction is applied.
Quick facts
El Capitan uses an approximately 2,322-meter surface estimate in EGM2008 from Copernicus GLO-30. The bounded terrain section has about 1,129 meters of local relief above its lowest sampled point. Published summit surveys are separate references.
For a presentation or a research note, include the subject, the measurement definition, and the measurement used. A picture alone cannot explain those choices. The comparison guide explains how to export an image and its source notes together.
Sources and measurement notes
- National Park Service: Yosemite Guide, August 20–September 23, 2025, valley map
- Copernicus DEM: dataset definition, datums and attribution
- Public Copernicus GLO-30 release documentation
- Wikidata: summit-area identity and initial coordinate
- Copernicus source terrain tile 1 (GeoTIFF)
The approximately 2,322-meter terrain maximum and 7,569-foot NPS map label are separate; local relief does not measure a particular wall.
Source review recorded . Maintained by Ishan Karunaratne. Suggest a correction with a source and the exact measurement being compared.