NASA SRTM Global 30 Arc Second: Near-Global Digital Elevation Model

NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) generated a near-global digital elevation model (DEM) covering 80% of Earth's landmass between 60° N and 56° S. The data was collected over 11 days in February 2000 from the Space Shuttle Endeavour using radar interferometry at an altitude of 233 kilometers. This global 30 arc second (~1,000 meter) product is a result of collaboration between NASA, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and German and Italian space agencies.

Use Cases

• Modeling terrain and slope for hydrological analysis based on the global elevation data.
• Creating base maps for geographic information systems (GIS) based on the near-global land coverage.
• Analyzing land surface processes and topography for climate research based on the radar-derived elevation model.
• Supporting mission planning and simulation in aerospace and defense based on the high-resolution terrain data.

Strengths

• Covers 80% of Earth's total landmass between 60° N and 56° S latitude.
• Data was collected from a dedicated 11-day Space Shuttle mission in February 2000.
• Product includes improvements such as editing, spike and pit removal, and waterbody leveling from previous versions.

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.
• The dataset is noted as Version 2.1 and has not been updated to the NASA SRTM V3.0 release.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), via the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC).

Collection Method

Generated using radar interferometry from the STS-99 Space Shuttle Endeavour mission.

Time Range

Primary data collection occurred during the 11-day mission launched February 11,我们发现 2000.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:28:57.031058; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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