NASADEM provides global elevation data at 1 arc second spacing, derived from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission's radar interferometry. The dataset covers land between 60° N and 56° S latitude, accounting for about 80% of Earth's landmass. It was produced by NASA's LP DAAC from telemetry data collected during the STS-99 mission launched in February 2000.
Use Cases
- Analyze terrain slope and aspect using the elevation layer for hydrological modeling.
- Assess radar volumetric correlation layer for signal quality in specific regions.
- Compare radar incidence angle (relative to ellipsoid) with incidence angle (local) to study local topography effects.
- Use radar total correlation layer to identify areas of high interferometric coherence.
- Fill elevation voids in other datasets using NASADEM's interpolation and void-filling methods.
Strengths
- Global coverage of about 80% of Earth's landmass.
- Data derived from original SRTM telemetry with reprocessing improvements like geoid conversion.
- Distributed in standardized 1 degree by 1 degree tiles for easy access.
Limitations
- Limited to land between 60° N and 56° S, excluding polar regions.
- Original data collected over only 11 days in 2000, providing a single snapshot.
- Void areas exist, though interpolation methods were applied.
Provenance
- Source
- Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) telemetry data.
- Collection Method
- Radar interferometry from the space shuttle Endeavour during the STS-99 mission.
- Time Range
- Data collected during the 11-day mission launched on February 11, 2000.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Global land coverage between 60° N and 56° S latitude.