[Gdal-dev] Elevation Units in DEM or DTED files

[Frank Warmerdam]

Gerald Brandt wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Is there a way using GDAL where I can find out the units used for
> measurements.  For example, is the elevation in feet or in meters?  I
> looked at the projection text and couldn't find anything.

Gerald,

Call GetUnitType() on a GDALRasterBand and it will return either "m" or "ft"
indicating the pixel values are elevations in meters or feet.  Defaults to
meters even for non-elevation products.  It does return ft for some USGS DEM,
and SDTS dem products.  Not sure about USGS DEM.

Best regards,
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