Antarctic 1 km Digital Elevation Model from ERS-1 and ICESat Altimetry

Antarctic 1 km Digital Elevation Model (DEM) combines radar altimeter data from the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS-1) from March 1994 and laser altimeter data from the ICESat GLAS instrument from February 2003 to March 2008. The data set is approximately 240 MB and is comprised of two gridded binary files with ENVI headers, viewable in ENVI or similar software. It is available via FTP.

Use Cases

• Model ice sheet dynamics and flow based on high-resolution surface elevation.
• Analyze topographic change over time based on the multi-year satellite data sources.
• Create base maps for Antarctic geological and glaciological research based on the 1 km resolution DEM.
• Calibrate and validate other remote sensing elevation products based on the combined radar and laser altimetry.

Strengths

• Combines two distinct satellite altimetry technologies (radar and laser) for potentially improved accuracy.
• Provides continent-wide coverage of Antarctica at a 1 km spatial resolution.
• Data spans a significant time range, with source data collected between 1994 and 2008.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• The license is marked as 'closed', which may restrict commercial or redistribution use.

Provenance

Collection Method

Combined measurements from the ERS-1 satellite radar altimeter and the ICESat Geosciences Laser Altimeter System (GLAS).

Time Range

ERS-1 data from March 1994; ICESat GLAS data from 20 February 2003 to 21 March 2008.

Geography

Antarctica