Global 30-Meter Digital Elevation Model for NASA-ISRO NISAR Mission

Modified Copernicus Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) provide global 30-meter resolution elevation data. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory created this collection by updating the vertical reference to WGS84 and filling ocean gaps for complete global coverage, specifically for the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission. It is based on the Copernicus DEM 30-m COP-DEM_GLO-30-DGED/2023_1 model from the European Space Agency.

Use Cases

• Perform terrain correction for NISAR mission radar data using the WGS84 ellipsoid-referenced elevation values.
• Analyze global topography and landforms with the 30-meter resolution GeoTIFF tile structure organized by latitude bands.
• Model hydrological flow and watersheds using the complete global coverage DEM, which includes filled ocean areas with EGM2008 geoid values.
• Support geophysical research by accessing elevation data through the hierarchical VRT structure for fast, unified data retrieval.

Strengths

• 30-meter spatial resolution provides detailed topographic information.
• Complete global coverage achieved by filling non-existing ocean tiles.
• Hierarchical VRT structure enables fast and unified access to the entire dataset.

Limitations

• Specific row count, file size, and temporal coverage details are not provided.
• Original data sources (WorldDEM-30) have a primary collection period from 2010-2018, which may not reflect recent terrain changes.
• Vertical reference updates and gap-filling introduce processing dependencies on the source Copernicus DEM.

Provenance

Source

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA, using the Copernicus DEM 30-m model from the European Space Agency.

Collection Method

Modified from the Copernicus DEM 30-m COP-DEM_GLO-30-DGED/2023_1; vertical reference updated from EGM2008 geoid to WGS84 ellipsoid; ocean gaps filled with EGM2008 model.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global