Semi-inground pool
Also called: semi-inground, buried above-ground pool, partially buried pool.
A semi-inground pool is a rigid-wall above-ground pool recessed into the ground rather than standing on it, and only a model the manufacturer rates for burial should be buried. It buys the look of an in-ground pool, not the features: the floor is still flat and a vinyl liner still hangs inside a wall.
Why it matters
The burial figures here come from Royal Swimming Pools, a retailer, so your model's own depth chart outranks them. The depth limit is a seam, not a number: manufacturers typically restrict burial to the horizontal seam beneath the top rail, and most semi-inground models permit up to about 48 inches. Tolerances tighten: a standard above-ground pool wants level within about an inch, a buried install no more than a quarter inch. Drainage is the failure mode, because hydrostatic pressure can buckle a panel or lift the liner, and native clay is the wrong backfill. Resin versus steel for burial is contested, so get the burial spec in writing.
In numbers
Under the National Electrical Code, a pool that can hold water deeper than 42 inches is a permanently installed pool rather than a storable one. A 52-inch wall holds somewhere between 44 and 48 inches of water, so the bonding obligations were probably yours before anyone dug.