OpenTopoData API: An Overview

Are you looking for a reliable and accurate source of elevation data? Look no further than OpenTopoData. OpenTopoData provides a free, public API that allows users to access terrain elevation data at multiple global scales.

How to Use OpenTopoData API in JavaScript

The OpenTopoData API supports various programming languages, including JavaScript. Using API in JavaScript is pretty straightforward; you just have to send an API request using HTTP GET/POST request within your code.

Here's an example code in JavaScript that illustrates how to retrieve Topographic data from OpenTopoData API:

let xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
let url = "https://opentopodata.org/v1/samples/full_form?locations=50.684,7.144&source=GTOPO30";
xhr.open("GET", url, true);

xhr.onreadystatechange = function () {
   if (xhr.readyState === 4 && xhr.status === 200) {
      let responseJSON = JSON.parse(xhr.responseText);
      console.log(responseJSON);
   }
};

xhr.send();

Here, we have created a new instance of XMLHttpRequest() and created a URL for our API call. The open() function is then used to open a GET request with the specified URL. The onreadystatechange() function is used as a callback function to be executed when the request receives a response. Finally, we make an API call with send() function to retrieve the desired JSON data.

This will return the following JSON response:

{"status":"ok","samples":[{"location":{"latitude":50.684,"longitude":7.144},"elevation":274.0}]}

You can then proceed to extract the elevation data of interest from the response JSON.

Conclusion

OpenTopoData API offers an amazing opportunity to interact with an easy-to-use and publicly available tool for elevation data retrieval. The API also supports many other useful functions such as seamless OpenLayers integration and good documentation. Happy exploring!