NASA SRTM Global 1 Arc Second: Global Digital Elevation Model

NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Global 1 arc second V003 is a near-global digital elevation model (DEM) created using radar interferometry from the Space Shuttle Endeavour's STS-99 mission in February 2000. The dataset covers about 80% of Earth's total landmass, between 60° N and 56° S latitude, with a spatial resolution of approximately 30 meters. This Version 3 product, distributed by the LP DAAC, has eliminated voids present in earlier versions by supplementing SRTM data with ASTER GDEM, GMTED2010, and NED.

Use Cases

• Terrain analysis and slope modeling based on the global 30-meter digital elevation model.
• Hydrological flow modeling and watershed delineation using the filled void elevation data.
• Creating 3D visualizations and maps from the radar-interferometry-derived height data.
• Assessing SRTM performance and accuracy for specific regions as referenced in the Rodriguez et al. (2006) publication.

Strengths

• Covers approximately 80% of Earth's landmass between 60° N and 56° S latitude.
• Provides a spatial resolution of 1 arc second, which is approximately 30 meters.
• Version 3 has eliminated data voids using supplemental datasets like ASTER GDEM and GMTED2010.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data collection occurred during an 11-day mission in February 2000, which may limit temporal relevance for some applications.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), with participation from German and Italian space agencies.

Collection Method

Generated using radar interferometry from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) payload on the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Time Range

Primary data collected during the STS-99 mission, which launched February 11, —2000 and flew for 11 days.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:28:23.280884; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Near-global coverage of land between 60° N and 56° S latitude.