Digital elevation model

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3D rendering of a DEM of Tithonium Chasma on Mars

A digital elevation model is a digital model or 3D representation of a terrain's surface commonly for a planet (including Earth), moon, or asteroid created from terrain elevation data.
Contents
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1 DEM, DSM or DTM 2 Types of DEM 3 Production 4 Methods for obtaining elevation data used to create DEMs 5 Uses 6 Sources

6.1 United States

7 See also 8 References 9 DEM file formats 10 External links

DEM, DSM or DTM [edit]

model represents the earth's surface and includes all objects on it. In contrast to a DSM, the digital terrain model represents the bare ground surface without any objects like plants and buildings (see the figure on the right).[1][2]

Surfaces represented by a Digital Surface Model include buildings and other objects. Digital Terrain Models represent the bare ground.

DTM is often used as a generic term for DSMs and DTMs, only representing height information without any further definition about the surface.[3] Other definitions equalise the terms DEM and DTM,[4] or define the DEM as a subset of the DTM, which also represents other morphological elements.[5] There are also definitions which equalise the terms DEM and DSM.[6] On the Web definitions can be found which define DEM as a regularly spaced GRID and a DTM as a three-dimensional model (TIN).[7] Most of the data providers (USGS,ERSDAC, CGIAR, Spot Image) use the term DEM as a generic term for DSMs and DTMs. All datasets which are captured with satellites, airplanes or other flying platforms are originally DSMs (like SRTM or the ASTER GDEM). It is possible to compute a DTM from high resolution DSM datasets with complex algorithms (Li et al., 2005). In the following the term DEM is used as a generic term for DSMs and DTMs.

Types of DEM [edit]

Heightmap of Earth's surface (including water and ice) inequirectangular projection, normalized as 8-bit grayscale, where lighter values indicate higher elevation

A DEM can be represented as a raster (a grid of squares, also known as a heightmap when representing elevation) or as a vector-basedtriangular irregular network (TIN). The TIN DEM dataset is also referred to as a primary (measured) DEM, whereas the Raster DEM is referred to as a secondary (computed) DEM. [8] The DEM

could be acquired through techniques such as photogrammetry, LiDAR, IfSAR,land surveying, etc. (Li et al. 2005). DEMs are commonly built using data collected using remote sensing techniques, but they may also be built from land surveying. DEMs are used often in geographic information systems, and are the most common basis for digitally-produced relief maps. While a DSM may be useful for landscape modeling, city modeling and visualization applications, a DTM is often required for flood or drainage modeling, land-use studies, geological applications, and other applications.[9]

Production [edit]

Relief map Sierra Nevada

Mappers may prepare digital elevation models in a number of ways, but they frequently use remote sensing rather than direct survey data. One powerful technique for generating digital elevation models is interferometric synthetic aperture radar where two passes of a radar satellite (such as RADARSAT1 orTerraSAR-X or Cosmo SkyMed), or a single pass if the satellite is equipped with two antennas (like the SRTM instrumentation), collect sufficient data to generate a digital elevation map tens of kilometers on a side with a resolution of around ten meters[citation needed]. Other kinds of stereoscopic pairs can be employed using the digital image correlation method, where two optical images are acquired with different angles taken from the same pass of an airplane or an Earth Observation Satellite (such as the HRS instrument of SPOT5 or the VNIR band of ASTER).[10] In 1986, the SPOT 1 satellite provided the first usable elevation data for a sizeable portion of the planet's landmass, using two-pass stereoscopic correlation. Later, further data were provided by the European RemoteSensing Satellite (ERS) using the same method, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission using single-pass SAR and the ASTER instrumentation on the Terra satellite using double-pass stereo pairs.[10] The HRS instrument on SPOT 5 has acquired over 100 million square kilometers of stereo pairs. Older methods of generating DEMs often involve interpolating digital contour maps that may have been produced by direct survey of the land surface. This method is still used in mountain areas, where interferometry is not always satisfactory. Note that contour line data or any other sampled elevation

datasets (by GPS or ground survey) are not DEMs, but may be considered digital terrain models. A DEM implies that elevation is available continuously at each location in the study area. The quality of a DEM is a measure of how accurate elevation is at each pixel (absolute accuracy) and how accurately is the morphology presented (relative accuracy). Several factors play an important role for quality of DEM-derived products:

terrain roughness; sampling density (elevation data collection method); grid resolution or pixel size; interpolation algorithm; vertical resolution; terrain analysis algorithm; Reference 3D products include quality masks that give information on the coastline, lake, snow, clouds, correlation etc.

Methods for obtaining elevation data used to create DEMs [edit]

Gatewing X100 unmanned aerial vehicle

LIDAR Stereo photogrammetry from aerial surveys Block adjustment from optical satellite imagery Interferometry from radar data Real Time Kinematic GPS Topographic maps Theodolite or total station Doppler radar Focus variation Inertial surveys

Surveying and mapping drones

Uses [edit]

Digital Elevation Model - Red Rocks Amphitheater, Colorado processed byDroneMapper obtained using Falcon UAV

Bezmiechowa airfield 3D Digital Surface Model obtained using Pteryx UAV flying 200 m above hilltop

Digital Surface Model of motorwayinterchange construction site. Note that tunnels are closed.

Example DEM flown with the Gatewing X100 in Assenede

Digital Terrain Model Generator + Textures(Maps) + Vectors

Common uses of DEMs include:

Extracting terrain parameters Modeling water flow or mass movement (for example avalanches and landslides) Creation of relief maps Rendering of 3D visualizations. 3D flight planning Creation of physical models (including raised relief maps) Rectification of aerial photography or satellite imagery Reduction (terrain correction) of gravity measurements (gravimetry, physical geodesy) Terrain analysis in geomorphology and physical geography Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Engineering and infrastructure design Global positioning systems (GPS) Line-of-sight analysis Base mapping

Flight simulation Precision farming and forestry Surface analysis Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) Auto safety / Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) Archaeology

Sources [edit]
A free DEM of the whole world called GTOPO30 (30 arcsecond resolution, approx. 1 km) is available, but its quality is variable and in some areas it is very poor. A much higher quality DEM from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument of the Terra satellite is also freely available for 99% of the globe, and represents elevation at 30 meter resolution. A similarly high resolution was previously only available for the United States territory under the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data, while most of the rest of the planet was only covered in a 3 arc-second resolution (around 90 meters). The limitation with the GTOPO30 and SRTM datasets is that they cover continental landmasses only, and SRTM does not cover the polar regions and has mountain and desert no data (void) areas. SRTM data, being derived from radar, represents the elevation of the first-reflected surface quite often tree tops. So, the data are not necessarily representative of the ground surface, but the top of whatever is first encountered by the radar. Submarine elevation (known as bathymetry) data is generated using shipmounted depth soundings. The SRTM30Plus dataset (used in NASA World Wind) attempts to combine GTOPO30, SRTM and bathymetric data to produce a truly global elevation model.[11] A novel global DEM of postings lower than 12 m and a height accuracy of less than 2 m is expected from the TanDEM-X satellite mission which started in July 2010. The most common grid (raster) spacing is between 50 and 500 meters. In gravimetry e.g., the primary grid may be 50 m, but is switched to 100 or 500 meters in distances of about 5 or 10 kilometers. Since 2002, the HRS instrument on SPOT 5 has acquired over 100 million square kilometers of stereo pairs used to produce a DTED2 format DEM (with a 30-meter posting) DEM format DTED2 over 50 million km.[12] The radar satellite RADARSAT-2 has been used by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. to provide DEMs for commercial and military customers.[13] In 2014, acquisitions from radar satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X will be available in the form of a uniform global coverage with a resolution of 12 meters.[14] Many national mapping agencies produce their own DEMs, often of a higher resolution and quality, but frequently these have to be purchased, and the cost is usually prohibitive to all except public authorities and large corporations. DEMs are often a product of National LIDAR Dataset programs.

Free DEMs are also available for Mars: the MEGDR, or Mission Experiment Gridded Data Record, from the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) instrument; and NASA's Mars Digital Terrain Model (DTM).[15]

United States [edit]