NASA Terra Project: ASTER Digital Elevation Model (AST14DEM) Version 4

AST14DEM Version 3 was decommissioned on December 15, 2025. The Terra ASTER Digital Elevation Model product is generated from stereoscopic data acquired by the Visible and Near Infrared sensor, with a time lag of approximately one minute between nadir and backward images. Validation testing indicates the new system frequently produces DEMs with accuracies better than 25 meters root mean square error.

Use Cases

• Generate high-resolution topographic maps based on stereoscopic satellite imagery.
• Conduct terrain analysis for hydrological or geological modeling based on the digital elevation extraction.
• Perform orthorectification of satellite imagery based on the geoid height-corrected outputs.
• Study land surface changes over time, noting the data acquisition gap from November 28, 2024, to January 16, 2025.

Strengths

• DEMs frequently have accuracies better than 25 meters root mean square error in xyz dimensions.
• Version 4 software provides digital elevation extraction and orthorectification without needing external ground control points.
• Outputs are geoid height-corrected and waterbodies are automatically detected.

Limitations

• There is a known data acquisition gap from November 28, 2024, through January 16, 2025, for VNIR observations.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Earthdata Search, generated by the LP DAAC using SILCAST software.

Collection Method

Generated from stereoscopic ASTER Level 1A imagery using bands 3N and 3B.

Time Range

Coverage includes a data gap from November 28, 2024, to January 16, 2025.

Freshness

Version 3 was decommissioned on December, 2025, indicating active version management.

Geography

Global coverage from the Terra satellite's ASTER instrument.