Elevation Model (DEM GeoTIFF)

A DEM GeoTIFF is an elevation model as a single file: an ordinary GeoTIFF with one Float32 band whose cell value IS the elevation in metres above sea level. Not a colour, not a shadow, not the brightness of a picture — a number you can read, subtract and average. The raster is georeferenced, clipped exactly to the area you ordered and written in the coordinate system you chose, so it lands in its place in a GIS without manual georeferencing.

The heights come from the global Copernicus DEM GLO-30 model: about a 30 m step with a vertical accuracy of roughly 2–4 m. That is enough for pre-design assessment, tourism, visualisation and 3D — and not enough for engineering design, grading or any work held to building codes, where an instrumental survey is required. Take this format when you need the elevation numbers themselves rather than a ready picture of the terrain: hillshade and hypsometric tint are separate formats, and they are built from a raster like this one.

Cells with no elevation — open sea, a gap in coverage — carry the NoData value declared inside the file rather than zero, so a GIS shows them as empty instead of sea level. The share of such cells is stated as a number in the order warning, and if the whole area has no elevation at all, no file is produced. The Copernicus credit, a license requirement, is embedded in the file metadata and travels with it.