NASADEM: Global 1 Arc-Second Elevation Model from Shuttle Radar

A global Digital Elevation Model derived from the 2000 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data, covering land between 60° N and 56° S latitude, which accounts for about 80% of Earth's total landmass. The dataset was produced by NASA's Land Processes DAAC, incorporating reprocessing improvements such as geoid reference conversion and void filling using auxiliary data from ASTER GDEM, ICESat GLAS, and AW3D30 DEM. Data is distributed in 1-degree by 1-degree tiles and includes radar combined images and associated NUM files.

Use Cases

• Terrain analysis and slope calculation based on the 1 arc-second resolution elevation data.
• Hydrological modeling for watershed delineation based on the global topographic surface.
• Improving geolocation accuracy for other remote sensing products using the ground control points mentioned in the description.
• Generating 3D visualizations and maps based on the SRTM image mosaic elevation data.

Strengths

• Covers approximately 80% of Earth's total landmass between 60° N and 56° S latitude.
• Derived from original SRTM telemetry data with reprocessing improvements including geoid reference conversion.
• Incorporates auxiliary data from multiple sources (ASTER GDEM, ICESat GLAS, AW3D30 DEM) for improved accuracy and void filling.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the SRTM mission's coverage limits.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Derived from original telemetry data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) using radar interferometry, with additional processing using ASTER GDEM, ICESat GLAS, and AW3D30 DEM data.

Time Range

Primary data collected during the STS-99 mission launched on February 11, 2000.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:53:00.199018; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global, covering all land between 60° N and 56° S latitude.