Detailed elevation map of Europe at 10m (Copernicus)
What it measures. A digital model of the land's height and shape across Europe, recording how high the terrain sits at each 10-metre point over roughly 6 million square kilometres.
How it's made. Derived from satellite radar observations and assembled by Copernicus as a TIFF image covering 39 European countries plus their islands and French overseas departments.
How & where you'd use it. A foundation for regional terrain analysis, flood and landslide assessment, infrastructure planning, and environmental studies needing accurate ground elevation.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2010-12-12 → ongoing
- Spatial extent-54.6, -22, 69, 82
What you can do with it
- Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
- Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
- Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description
The Copernicus DEM and related land surface datasets provide high-quality geographic information derived from satellite observations. The EEA-10 dataset covers 39 European countries, including all associated islands as well as the French Overseas Departments (excluding French Overseas Territories). It provides a spatial resolution of 10 metres and covers a total surface area of approximately 6 million km². This dataset is suitable for regional-scale analysis, environmental assessment, land monitoring, and other spatial applications requiring detailed geographic coverage across the European region.
Get the data
# ESA Copernicus Data Space — open STAC API (free account)
from pystac_client import Client
cat = Client.open("https://stac.dataspace.copernicus.eu/v1")
search = cat.search(
collections=["cop-dem-eea-10-laea-tif"], # add _cog or _nc for a format variant
bbox=(-10, 35, 30, 60), # your area (W,S,E,N)
datetime="2024-01-01/2024-12-31",
)
items = list(search.items()) # then read assets with rioxarray / xarray Browsing the Copernicus STAC is open; downloading bytes needs a free Copernicus Data Space account.
Official links
- Open data source Copernicus STAC