HR: 0830h
AN: T21C-0475    [PDF]
TI: A Method for Improving SRTM DEMs in High-Relief Terrain
AU: * Falorni, G
EM: gfalorni@mit.edu
AF: Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 United States
AU: * Falorni, G
EM: gfalorni@mit.edu
AF: Universita di Firenze - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Via G. La Pira, 4, Florence, FI I-50121 Italy
AU: Istanbulluoglu, E
EM: erkan@mit.edu
AF: Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 United States
AU: Bras, R L
EM: rlbras@mit.edu
AF: Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 United States
AB: The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) had the objective of mapping the Earth's surface between $56\,^{\circ}$ S and $60\,^{\circ}$ N to produce the first near-global high resolution digital elevation model (DEM). The dataset, with a horizontal resolution of 1 arc second ($\sim$ 30 m), has now been released for the conterminous U.S. Recent investigations aimed at assessing the vertical accuracy of the dataset have revealed that elevation accuracy is well within dataset specifications in areas of low- to modest-relief but that errors generally increase in high-relief terrains. Statistical analyses performed with the objective of characterizing the error structure in two study sites within the U.S. have highlighted the existence of correlations between elevation residuals and slope gradient, slope bearing and elevation. In particular, the analyses show that the largest errors occur on steep slopes and that slope bearing has a marked influence on the sign of the elevation residuals. Based on these findings we are currently investigating a method for correcting relevant vertical errors in SRTM-derived DEMs according to their topographic location. We propose to use a combination of indices derived from the statistical analyses to predict the occurrence, magnitude and sign of the vertical errors.
DE: 1824 Geomorphology (1625)
DE: 1894 Instruments and techniques
SC: Tectonophysics [T]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting