[R-sig-Geo] strange srtm3 query in geonames package

[Michael Denslow]

Dear r-sig-geo and Barry,

I am getting a strange value when doing a query using the function
GNsrtm3 in the geonames package.
Here is the code.

library(geonames)
GNsrtm3(34.63874,-79.10111)  # outside Lumberton North Carolina USA!


   srtm3       lng      lat
1 -32768 -79.10111 34.63874

Warning message:
In readLines(u) :
  incomplete final line found on
'http://ws.geonames.org/srtm3JSON?lat=34.63874&lng=-79.10111'


I think the elevation value should be around 47 meters. The geonames
website says 'ocean areas have been masked as "no data" and have been
assigned a value of -32768'.
http://www.geonames.org/export/web-services.html#srtm3
I tried adjusting the lat, long values to query some nearby cells but
I still get -32768.

Are these kinds of errors common in this dataset? Any suggestions?
I am would actually prefer to get an average elevation for the county
(Robeson) but am settling for the county centroid at this point.


Thanks in advance,
Michael


-- 
Michael Denslow

Graduate Student & Adjunct Instructor
I.W. Carpenter Jr. Herbarium [BOON]
Department of Biology
Appalachian State University
Boone, North Carolina U.S.A.
-- AND --
Communications Manager
Southeast Regional Network of Expertise and Collections
sernec.org

36.214177, -81.681480 +/- 3103 meters