[Tagging] ele-key for lakes / water bodies and glaciers

[M∡rtin Koppenhoefer]

2010/8/24 Alan Mintz <Alan_Mintz+OSM at earthlink.net>:
> I would expect the opposite - the elevation of the water surface above "sea
> level". It appears that Google Earth does it this way (e.g. Lake Arrowhead ~
> 34.258476, -117.182861).


If you look at other maps e.g. here:
http://mappery.com/Elevation-Contours-of-Lake-Okeechobee-Map
you can see that elevation (in this case) is used for the ground, not
the surface.

on the other hand, here elevation is used for the surface:
http://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/rsvrs/ops/crsp_40_gc.html
http://nd.water.usgs.gov/devilslake/data/dlelevation.html

> depth=* should then be used to tag the depth of the
> floor below the water surface.


yes, depth for tagging the water-depth, but that doesn't help for elevation.

cheers,
Martin