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Vertical Datum Transformation
Integrating America's Elevation Data

NOAA/NOS's VDATUM TERMS OF USE
(EFFECTIVE AS OF NOVEMBER 15, 2013)

Please read carefully!

This NOAA/NOS's VDatum Terms of Use Agreement serves as evidence of the mutual understanding governing the transfer and subsequent use of the Vertical Datum Transformation software and its data ("VDatum") available from the entry point URL //vdatum.noaa.gov. By accessing, browsing and/or using vdatum.noaa.gov site, you signify and acknowledge that you have read and agreed to be bound by the following terms of this agreement: 

  1. VDatum are furnished by NOAA/NOS and are accepted and used by the recipient individual or group entity with the express understanding that NOAA/NOS makes no warranties, expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability, usability, or suitability for any particular purpose of the information or data contained in the program. NOAA/NOS does not warrant that the functions contained in the program will meet your requirements, or the operation of the program will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that defects in the program will be corrected. Should VDatum prove defective, you (and not NOAA/NOS or any NOAA/NOS representatives) assume the cost of all necessary correction.

    Under no circumstances, including negligence, shall NOAA/NOS be liable for any direct, incidental, special, indirect or consequential damages including lost revenue, profit or data, whether in an action in contract or tort arising out of or relating to the use of or inability to use VDatum, even if NOAA/NOS has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

  2. VDatum is provided without any support (including technical assistance) or maintenance, and without any obligation to provide you with modification, improvements, enhancements, or updates of the program. Furthermore, the recipient understands that the current software and data being used might not be in sync with what NOAA provides from time to time.

    VDatum and other elements of VDatum are also provided without source code. Decompilation, disassembly, or reverse engineering of VDatum is prohibited.

  3. VDatum were developed by the Federal Government with public funds. Therefore, it is illegal to assert any proprietary rights thereto or to represent the programs to anyone as other than Government programs. The recipient will not imply proprietary possession of the program and its data in seeking clients for the application in either the public or private sectors.

  4. The recipient understands that the current programs and all documents related thereto may be discontinued from further support or maintenance by NOAA/NOS at any time if sufficient fund are not available.

  5. The recipient understands that the acknowledgement of NOAA/NOS shall not explicitly or implicitly be used to support the specific analysis, interpretations, or other finding of an application or study utilizing VDatum.

  6. All documents and reports conveying information obtained as a result of the use of original VDatum, by either recipient or third party users, shall acknowledge their origin as being NOAA/NOS. If the program have been modified and/or are not longer supported or maintained by NOAA/NOS, this status shall be stated in the acknowledgment.

  7. Although many of the vertical datum transformations between the North America Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) and mean sea level, and between mean sea level and the other tidal datums, are based on tidal values from the present National Tidal Datum Epoch (NTDE, 1983 to 2001), some are based on data from older tidal epochs. NOAA / NOS is in the process of updating the data in VDatum to conform to the latest NTDE. In the mean time, care should be used when applying these transformations.

  8. The recipient also understands the potential uncertainties, or errors, in computed heights when applying the software to convert values between vertical datums, available in the Estimation of Vertical Uncertainties in VDatum.