Systems and method are provided for localizing a vehicle. In one embodiment, a method includes: receiving, by a processor, sensor data from a sensor of the vehicle; filtering, by the processor, the sensor data for data associated with static elements of the environment; determining, by the processor, realtime height values associated with the static elements; correlating, by the processor, the realtime height values with defined height values associated with a map of the environment; localizing, by the processor, the vehicle on the map based on the correlated realtime height values and the defined height values; and controlling, by the processor, the vehicle based on the localizing.