Nature · Mexico · summit-crater area and differing dated references
Popocatépetl: terrain elevation and local relief
Popocatépetl uses an approximately 5,408-meter surface estimate in EGM2008 from Copernicus GLO-30. The bounded terrain section has about 2,580 meters of local relief above its lowest sampled point. Published summit surveys are separate references.
≈ 5,408 m
Data-derived estimate- Measurement
- Highest sampled surface in the documented Copernicus terrain section · EGM2008
- Subject or version
- Mexico · summit-crater area and differing dated references
- In feet, rounded
- 17,743.2 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
- 5408.1 m at 19.022500°, -98.628056°.
- Local base
- 2828.5 m at 18.993889°, -98.571389°. Lowest sampled point within this bounded terrain section.
- Section bounds in WGS84-G1150
- West -98.675694°, east -98.571250°; south 18.991806°, north 19.055139°.
- View and scale
- Orthographic map section facing north. Equal horizontal and vertical map scales. Approximate grid spacing: 29.2 m east-west and 30.7 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 Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program’s profile table lists Popocatépetl at 5,393 meters, while older report prose on the same profile retains 5,420 meters. This Copernicus section reaches approximately 5,408 meters in EGM2008 on the summit-crater area. These figures are not averaged or used to stretch the volcanic cone. The older surface does not depict the current crater rim, a new lava dome or an ash-plume altitude.
The local-relief view subtracts the lowest sampled point in this section: 2828.5 meters at 18.993889° latitude, -98.571389° longitude. This produces about 2,580 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
Popocatépetl uses an approximately 5,408-meter surface estimate in EGM2008 from Copernicus GLO-30. The bounded terrain section has about 2,580 meters of local relief above its lowest sampled point. Published summit surveys are separate references.
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Sources and measurement notes
- Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program: Popocatépetl profile table and historical reports
- 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)
- Copernicus source terrain tile 2 (GeoTIFF)
The approximately 5,408-meter surface is independent of the Smithsonian table’s 5,393 meters and its older 5,420-meter report reference.
Source review recorded . Maintained by Ishan Karunaratne. Suggest a correction with a source and the exact measurement being compared.