SRTMGL3: Global 90-Meter Digital Elevation Model from Shuttle Radar

NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) provides a near-global digital elevation model (DEM) at 3 arc-second (~90 meter) resolution. The data were collected during the STS-99 Space Shuttle Endeavour mission in February 2000 and cover land between 60° N and 56° S latitude, accounting for 80% of Earth's landmass. Version 3.0 products have been improved by filling data voids using supplemental topographical data from sources like ASTER GDEM and GMTED2010.

Use Cases

• Generate terrain models and slope calculations based on the global 90-meter elevation grid.
• Perform hydrological flow analysis and watershed delineation using the continuous elevation surface.
• Create relief maps and visualizations for geographic regions based on the radar-derived topography.
• Support land cover classification and environmental modeling by integrating elevation data.

Strengths

• Global coverage of 80% of Earth's landmass between 60° N and 56° S latitude.
• Voids present in earlier versions have been filled using supplemental datasets like ASTER GDEM V2.0.
• Data were collected from a dedicated Space Shuttle mission (STS-99) using radar interferometry.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Derived from the 1 arc-second SRTM data using sampling methods, with voids filled using existing topographical data.

Time Range

Primary data collection occurred during the 11-day STS-99 mission launched February 11, 2000.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:28:52.602405; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Near-global, covering land between 60° N and 56° S latitude.