Nature · Karakoram · bounded southern view
K2: terrain elevation and local relief
K2 uses an approximately 8,571-meter surface estimate in EGM2008 from Copernicus GLO-30. The bounded terrain section has about 3,511 meters of local relief above its lowest sampled point. Published summit surveys are separate references.
≈ 8,571 m
Data-derived estimate- Measurement
- Highest sampled surface in the documented Copernicus terrain section · EGM2008
- Subject or version
- Karakoram · bounded southern view
- In feet, rounded
- 28,118.6 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
- 8570.6 m at 35.880833°, 76.512500°.
- Local base
- 5060.1 m at 35.849722°, 76.523333°. Lowest sampled point within this bounded terrain section.
- Section bounds in WGS84-G1150
- West 76.452361°, east 76.574306°; south 35.849583°, north 35.912639°.
- View and scale
- Orthographic map section facing north. Equal horizontal and vertical map scales. Approximate grid spacing: 25.1 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
Gilgit-Baltistan’s Tourism Department lists K2 at 8,611 meters. That published mountain elevation is an independent reference. The terrain section’s sampled maximum is about 8,571 meters in EGM2008; the tourism page does not specify a matching vertical datum, so I do not use its number to rescale the terrain.
The local-relief view subtracts the lowest sampled point in this section: 5060.1 meters at 35.849722° latitude, 76.523333° longitude. This produces about 3,511 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
K2 uses an approximately 8,571-meter surface estimate in EGM2008 from Copernicus GLO-30. The bounded terrain section has about 3,511 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
- Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department: K2
- 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)
Read approximately 8,571 meters as the selected surface dataset’s estimate, alongside the separately reported 8,611-meter summit.
Source review recorded . Maintained by Ishan Karunaratne. Suggest a correction with a source and the exact measurement being compared.