Contour lines generator
Pick an area on the map: the contour lines appear inside it. Download them for QGIS, AutoCAD or Google Earth.
Area
10 × 13 km · 128 km²Drag the corners to resize the square and its label to move it.
Line every
Download the lines of this area
Copernicus DEM GLO-30, 30 m. Credit included in the file.
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Fonctionnement, formats et limites.
À propos de cet outil
This tool draws contour lines inside the area you pick, anywhere on Earth, from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 elevation model. Each line carries its elevation in metres, and every fifth line is marked as an index contour. Download them as GeoJSON, a zipped Shapefile or KML, ready to open in QGIS.
Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · areas up to 400 km² · GeoJSON, Shapefile, KML · no account
How it works
- Search a place, then drag the square to fit what you need, or draw a new one. Any area up to 400 km², about 20 by 20 km, works.
- The tool reads the Copernicus elevation model under the box, about one value every 30 m, and traces a line through every point at the same height.
- Change the interval and the lines redraw at once. Download the lines of the area as GeoJSON, Shapefile or KML.
Where the elevations come from
Copernicus DEM GLO-30 is a global elevation model from the European Space Agency and Airbus, built from TanDEM-X radar between 2011 and 2015. It covers every land area at 1 arc second, about 30 m. A few countries not covered at 30 m are read from the 90 m version.
It is a surface model: it measures the top of buildings and trees, not the bare ground. In open land and mountains the lines follow the terrain closely. In dense cities and forests they bend around roofs and canopy.
Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (c) DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and (c) Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. Licence
Which interval to choose
Auto picks the interval that gives about 30 lines over your area. For a building site or a garden, 1 to 2 m. For a hiking or valley map, 10 to 20 m. For a mountain range, 50 to 100 m. Below the 30 m cell size, small intervals add lines but no real detail.
Open the lines in QGIS
Drag the GeoJSON or the zipped Shapefile onto the QGIS map. The elev_m field holds the elevation of each line and the index field is 1 for every fifth line: style by index to draw them thicker, and label them with elev_m. The lines are in WGS 84 (EPSG:4326); reproject them to your local system with Export > Save Features As.
Limits
- One area of up to 400 km², about 20 by 20 km. Smaller areas keep the full 30 m detail.
- About 30 m between elevation values (up to 50 m for the widest areas): fine for terrain, too coarse for a plot survey.
- Buildings and trees are part of the surface, so lines in cities and forests are noisy.
- Lines come in WGS 84 (EPSG:4326).