Evaluation of digital elevation models for delineation of hydrological response units in a Himalayan watershed

This study reports results from evaluation of the quality of digital elevation model (DEM) from four sources viz. topographic map (1:50,000), Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) (90 m), optical stereo pair from ASTER (15 m) and CARTOSAT (2.5 m) and their use in derivation of hydrological response units (HRUs) in Sitla Rao watershed (North India). The HRUs were derived using water storage capacity and slope to produce surface runoff zones. The DEMs were evaluated on elevation accuracy and representation of morphometric features. The DEM derived from optical stereo pairs (ASTER and CARTOSAT) provided higher vertical accuracies than the SRTM and topographic map-based DEM. The SRTM with a coarse resolution of 90 m provided vertical accuracy but better morphometry compared to topographic map. The HRU maps derived from the fine resolution DEM (ASTER and CARTOSAT) were more detailed but did not provide much advantage for hydrological studies at the scale of Sitla Rao watershed (5800 ha).     

ENVISAT/ASAR多角度干涉雷达数据山区DEM生成及精度分析

在地形起伏较大的山区用干涉SAR生成DEM时,合适的入射角是获取高精度DEM的重要参数之一.本文基于ENVISAT/ASAR多角度干涉雷达数据,SRTM 90米分辨率的DEM以及1:5万的数字化DEM数据,从定性和定量的角度比较和分析了干涉SAR在获取山区DEM时,入射角对DEM精度的具体影响.结果表明:对于ASAR的多入射角干涉雷达数据,在不同入射角条件下由于雷达叠掩和透视收缩的影响,获取的DEM精度差别很大,入射角带来的影响相当显著,比如IS2和IS4角度得到的DEM的精度差超过了6米.因此,在山区干涉SAR地形成图时,必须对入射角的大小进行严格的选择.     

Accuracy Assessment of Digital Elevation Model Generated by SAR Stereoscopic Technique Using COSMO-Skymed Data

Radargrammetry technique using the stereoscopic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is used for the generation of a digital elevation model (DEM) of a region requires only the amplitude images. SAR stereoscopic technique is analogous to the stereo-photogrammetric technique where the optical stereoscopic images are used for DEM generation. While the advantages of the SAR images are their indifference to atmospheric transparency and solar illumination conditions, the side-looking geometry of the SAR increases the complexity in the SAR stereo analysis. The availability of high spatial and temporal resolution SAR data in recent years has facilitated generation of high-resolution DEM with greater vertical accuracy using radargrammetric technique. In the present study, attempt has been made to generate the DEM of Dehra Dun region, India, from the COSMO-Skymed X-band SAR data-pair acquired at 8 days interval through the radargrammetry technique. Here, radargrammetric orientation approach has been adopted to generate the DEM and various issues and processing steps with the radargrammetry technique have been discussed. The DEM was validated with ground measured elevation values using a differential global positioning system and the root-mean-square error of the DEM was found as 7.3 m. The DEM was compared with the reference DEM of the study area generated from the Cartosat-1 stereo data with a model accuracy of 4 m.     

Comparative evaluation of horizontal accuracy of elevations of selected ground control points from ASTER and SRTM DEM with respect to CARTOSAT-1 DEM: a case study of Shahjahanpur district,Uttar Pradesh,India

Digital elevation model (DEM) data of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) are distributed at a horizontal resolution of 90 m (30 m only for US) for the world, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) DEM data provide 30 m horizontal resolution, while CARTOSAT-1 (IRS-P5) gives 2.6 m horizontal resolution for global coverage. SRTM and ASTER data are available freely but 2.6 m CARTOSAT-1 data are costly. Hence, through this study, we found out a horizontal accuracy for selected ground control points (GCPs) from SRTM and ASTER with respect to CARTOSAT-1 DEM to implement this result (observed from horizontal accuracy) for those areas where the 2.6-m horizontal resolution data are not available. In addition to this, the present study helps in providing a benchmark against which the future DEM products (with horizontal resolution less than CARTOSAT-1) with respect to CARTOSAT-1 DEM can be evaluated. The original SRTM image contained voids that were represented digitally as ?140; such voids were initially filled using the measured values of elevation for obtaining accurate DEM. Horizontal accuracy analysis between SRTM- and ASTER-derived DEMs with respect to CARTOSAT-1 (IRS-P5) DEM allowed a qualitative assessment of the horizontal component of the error, and the appropriable statistical measures were used to estimate their horizontal accuracies. The horizontal accuracy for ASTER and SRTM DEM with respect to CARTOSAT-1 were evaluated using the root mean square error (RMSE) and relative root mean square error (R-RMSE). The results from this study revealed that the average RMSE of 20 selected GCPs was 2.17 for SRTM and 2.817 for ASTER, which are also validated using R-RMSE test which proves that SRTM data have good horizontal accuracy than ASTER with respect to CARTOSAT-1 because the average R-RMSE of 20 GCPs was 3.7 × 10^?4 and 5.3 × 10^?4 for SRTM and ASTER, respectively.     

Accuracy assessment of GDEM,SRTM, and DLR-SRTM in Northeastern China

This paper compares the accuracy of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) C-band and German Aerospace Centre (DLR)-SRTM X-band digital elevation models (DEMs) with the Ziyuan 3 (ZY-3) stereoscopic DEM and ground control points (GCPs). To date, the horizontal error of these DEMs has received little attention in accuracy assessments. Using the ZY-3 DEM as reference, this study examines (1) the horizontal offset between the three DEMs and the reference DEM using the normalised cross-correlation method, (2) the vertical accuracy of those DEMs using kinematic GPS data and (3) the relationship between the three DEMs and the reference ZY-3 DEM. The results show that the SRTM and DLR-SRTM have greater vertical accuracy after applying horizontal offset correction, whereas the vertical accuracy of the ASTER GDEM is less than the other two DEMs. These methods and results can be useful for researchers who use DEMs for various applications.     

Comparison of basin morphometry derived from topographic maps,ASTER and SRTM DEMs: an example from Kerala,India

The drainage network of a sixth-order tropical river basin, viz. Ithikkara river basin, was extracted from different sources such as Survey of India topographic maps (1: 50,000; TOPO) and digital elevation data of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) (30 m) and Shuttle Radar Topography Mapping Mission (SRTM) (90 m). Basin morphometric attributes were estimated to evaluate the accuracy of the digital elevation model (DEM)-derived drainage networks for hydrologic applications as well as terrain characterization. The stream networks derived from ASTER and SRTM DEMs show significant agreement (with slight overestimation of lower order streams) with that of TOPO. The study suggests that SRTM (despite the coarser spatial resolution) provides better results, in drainage delineation and basin morphometry, compared to ASTER. Further, the variability of basin morphometry among the data sources might be attributed to spatial variation of elevation, raster grid size and vertical accuracy of the DEMs as well as incapability of the surface hydrologic analysis functions in the GIS platform.     

A case study of using external DEM in InSAR DEM generation

Synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) has been used as an innovative technique for digital elevation model (DEM) and topographic map generation. In this paper, external DEMs are used for InSAR DEM generation to reduce the errors in data processing. The DEMs generated from repeat-pass InSAR are compared. For steep slopes and severe changes in topography, phase unwrapping quality can be improved by subtracting the phase calculated from an external DEM. It is affirmative that the absolute height accuracy of the InSAR DEM is improved by using external DEM. The data processing was undertaken without the use of ground control points and other manual operation.     

InSAR生成DEM中WRF大气校正

利用星载重复轨道合成孔径雷达干涉测量InSAR技术获取数字高程模型(DEM),无法避免大气延迟效应的影响。InSAR大气校正的方法很多,但在DEM获取方面的大气校正研究却非常少见。本文研究星载重轨InSAR生产DEM时利用大气数值模式WRF(Weather Research and Forecasting model)得到的水汽结果进行大气校正的问题,重点讨论大气校正的策略,包括WRF模式设置和大气校正时机的选择,简要介绍了基于WRF运算结果的大气校正方法。利用Terra SAR-X数据进行实验,检验了所提出方法的有效性,证明了在干涉相位解缠前进行大气校正,比在相位解缠后进行的效果更好。将所提出方法应用于多基线、多波段InSAR干涉结果融合中,实验结果表明大气校正能够有效降低误差,对于相干性较高的地区效果更好。     

多源DEM融合的高差拟合神经网络方法

本文侧重于介绍智能化摄影测量机器学习的高差拟合神经网络方法。观测手段和处理方式等限制导致全球高质量无缝DEM数据的缺乏,进而制约了它在水文、地质、气象及军事等领域的应用。本文提出了一种基于高差拟合神经网络的多源DEM融合方法,尝试融合全球DEM产品SRTM1、ASTER GDEM v2和激光雷达测高数据ICESat GLAS。首先,根据ICESat GLAS的相关参数及与DEM数据的高程差值,结合坡度自适应的思想设置高差阈值对ICESat GLAS进行滤波,剔除异常数据点。然后,以ICESat GLAS数据为控制点,利用神经网络模型拟合ASTER GDEM v2的误差分布。以地形坡度信息和经纬度坐标作为网络输入,ICESat GLAS和ASTER GDEM v2的高程差值作为目标输出,训练得到预测高差,将其与ASTER GDEM v2高程值相加即可获得校正结果。最后,引入TIN差分曲面的方法,利用校正后的ASTER GDEM v2高程值对SRTM1的数据空洞进行填充,融合生成空间无缝DEM。本文通过随机选取数据进行真实试验,对模型进行了精度验证,并给出了处理结果的定量评价和目视效果。结果表明,不论是空洞还是整体区域,本文方法相比其他DEM数据集和其他方法的处理结果都能够在RMSE上表现出优势,同时,本文提出的方法能够有效克服ASTER GDEM中异常值的影响,得到空间无缝DEM。     

Evaluation of morphometric parameters derived from ASTER and SRTM DEM — A study on Bandihole sub-watershed basin in Karnataka

Morphometric parameters derived from three different sources viz., Survey of India topographic map (1:50,000), SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission 90 m) and DEM derived from ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer — 30 m) are evaluated to examine any difference within the results for the proper planning and management of the watersheds. Extracting drainage network from DEMs is mainly based on the flow of water from higher to lower elevation and steepest descent in a pixel. Common morphometric parameters are considered for analysis. The results show that the morphometric parameters derived from the SRTM and ASTER data provide good and satisfying results. The results will be more efficient when the DEM cell size is smaller or the resolution of the image is higher.     

Characterization of ASTER GDEM elevation data over vegetated area compared with lidar data

Current researches based on areal or spaceborne stereo images with very high resolutions (<1 m) have demonstrated that it is possible to derive vegetation height from stereo images. The second version of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM) is the state-of-the-art global elevation data-set developed by stereo images. However, the resolution of ASTER stereo images (15 m) is much coarser than areal stereo images, and the ASTER GDEM is compiled products from stereo images acquired over 10 years. The forest disturbances as well as forest growth are inevitable in 10 years time span. In this study, the features of ASTER GDEM over vegetated areas under both flat and mountainous conditions were investigated by comparisons with lidar data. The factors possibly affecting the extraction of vegetation canopy height considered include (1) co-registration of DEMs; (2) spatial resolution of digital elevation models (DEMs); (3) spatial vegetation structure; and (4) terrain slope. The results show that the accurate coregistration between ASTER GDEM and national elevation dataset (NED) is necessary over mountainous areas. The correlation between ASTER GDEM minus NED and vegetation canopy height is improved from 0.328 to 0.43 by degrading resolutions from 1 arc-second to 5 arc-second and further improved to 0.6 if only homogenous vegetated areas were considered.     

顾及地形坡度的SRTM和ASTER加权融合

为了克服现有SRTM和ASTER各自缺陷，提升公共DEM精度，本文提出了一种顾及地形坡度的SRTM和ASTER加权融合方法。首先对两种DEM进行地理配准；然后计算不同坡度等级下SRTM和ASTER的高程误差，并得到DEM融合权重；最后采用加权平均法对SRTM和ASTER进行融合。高精度控制点的检验表明：融合后DEM精度有明显提高，相比于原始SRTM和ASTER高程误差，标准差分别降低了5.65 m和1.20 m。     

Mapping from ASTER stereo image data: DEM validation and accuracy assessment

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on-board the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Terra spacecraft provides along-track digital stereo image data at 15-m resolution. As part of ASTER digital elevation model (DEM) accuracy evaluation efforts by the US/Japan ASTER Science Team, stereo image data for four study sites around the world have been employed to validate prelaunch estimates of heighting accuracy. Automated stereocorrelation procedures were implemented using the Desktop Mapping System (DMS) software on a personal computer to derive DEMs with 30- to 150-m postings. Results indicate that a root-mean-square error (RMSE) in elevation between ±7 and ±15 m can be achieved with ASTER stereo image data of good quality. An evaluation of an ASTER DEM data product produced at the US Geological Survey (USGS) EROS Data Center (EDC) yielded an RMSE of ±8.6 m. Overall, the ability to extract elevations from ASTER stereopairs using stereocorrelation techniques meets expectations.     

DEM Extraction in Urban Areas Using High-Resolution TerraSAR-X Imagery

Three-dimensional (3D) spatial information is crucial for improving the quality of human life through urban planning and management, and it is widely utilized due to its rapid, periodic and inexpensive acquisition. In this context, extraction of digital surface and elevation models (DSM and DEM) is a significant research topic for space-borne optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing. The DSMs include visible features on the earth’s surface such as vegetation, forest and elevated man-made objects, while DEMs contain only the bare ground. In this paper, using TerraSAR-X (TSX) high resolution Spotlight (HS) images, high-resolution interferometric DEM generation in a part of Istanbul urban area is aimed. This is not an easy task because of SAR imaging problems in complex geometry of urban settlements. The interferometric processing steps for DSM generation were discussed including critical parameters and thresholds to improve the quality of the final product and a 3 m gridded DSM was generated. The DSM-DEM conversion was performed by filtering and the quality of generated DEM was verified against a reference DEM from stereo photogrammetry with 3 m original grid spacing. The achieved root mean square error of height differences (RMSZ) varies from 7.09 to 8.11 m, depending on the terrain slope. The differential DEM, illustrates the height differences between generated DEM and the reference DEM, was generated to show the correlation between height differences and the coherence map. Finally, a perspective view of test area was created draping extracted DEM and a high-resolution IKONOS panchromatic image.     

全球高分辨率数字高程模型研究进展与展望

简要介绍了数字高程模型（digital elevation model,DEM）的起源与定义,根据4种不同的观测平台分类介绍了DEM数据获取方法,给出目前国际上发布的高分辨率全球DEM的主要性质和特点。重点介绍了9大类全球DEM,分析了DEM质量评估相关的评定方法和精度指标。论述了DEM在地质灾害监测、海岸带脆弱性分析方面的应用,以美国地质勘探局和德国航空太空中心正在开展的DEM项目为例,讨论了高精度、高分辨率全球同质DEM和地形测深高程模型的最新需求,最后总结展望全球高分辨率DEM的发展趋势。     

Spot Revisited: Accuracy Assessment, Dem Generation and Validation from Stereo Spot 5 Hrg Images

SPOT 5 HRG Level 1A and 1B stereo scenes covering Zonguldak testfield in north-west Turkey have been analysed. They comprise the left and right image components with base to height ratio of 0·54. The pixel size on the ground is 5 m. The bundle orientation was executed by the PCI Geomatica V9.1.4 software package and resulted in 3D geopositioning to sub-pixel accuracies in each axis provided that at least six control points were used in the computation. Root mean square error (rmse) values and vectors of residual errors for Levels 1A and 1B are similar, even for different control and check point configurations. Based on the scene orientation, Level 1A and 1B digital elevation models (DEMs) of the testfield have been determined by automatic matching and validated by the reference DEM digitised from the 1:25 000 scale topographic maps, interferometric DEMs from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) X- and C-band SAR data and the GPS profiles measured along the main roads in the testfield. Although the accuracies of reference data-sets are too similar to the generated SPOT DEMs, these are the only high quality reference materials available in this area. Sub-pixel height accuracy was indicated by the comparison with profile points. However, they are in favourable locations where matching is always successful, so such a result may give a biased measure of the accuracy of the corresponding DEMs.     

Spheroidal equal angular DEMs: The specificity of morphometric treatment

Digital elevation models (DEMs) are commonly constructed using two main types of regular grids: plane square grids and spheroidal equal angular grids. Methods and algorithms intended for plane square‐gridded DEMs should not be directly applied to spheroidal equal angular DEMs. This is because these grids have fundamentally different geometry. However, some researchers continue to apply square‐grid algorithms to spheroidal equal angular DEMs. It seems appropriate to consider once again the specifity of morphometric treatment of spheroidal equal angular DEMs. This article, first, demonstrates possibilities of direct calculation of local, nonlocal, and combined morphometric variables from spheroidal equal angular DEMs exemplified by slope gradient, catchment area, and topographic index. Second, the article shows computational errors when algorithms for plane square‐gridded DEMs are unreasonably applied to spheroidal equal angular DEMs. The study is exemplified by two DEMs. A medium‐resolution DEM of a relatively small, high‐mountainous area (Mount Elbrus) was extracted from the SRTM1 DEM. A low‐resolution DEM of a vast region with the diverse topography (the central and western regions of Kenya) was extracted from the SRTM30_PLUS DEM. The results show that application of square‐grid methods to spheroidal equal angular DEMs leads to substantial computational errors in models of morphometric variables.     

Assessment of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Elevation Data Based on Topographic Maps in Turkey

Depending on scale, topographic maps depicting the shape of the land surfaces of the Earth are produced from different data sources. National topographic maps at a scale of 1:25 000 (25K maps) produced by General Command of Mapping are used as the base map set in Turkey. This map set, which consists of approximately 5500 sheets, covers the whole country and is produced using photogrammetric methods. Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) created from these maps are also available. Recently, another data source, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometric data, has become more important than those produced by conventional methods. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) contains elevation data with 3 arc-second resolution and 16 m absolute height error (90 percent confidence level). These data are freely available via the Internet for approximately 80 percent of the Earth's land mass. In this study, SRTM DEM was compared with DEM derived from 25K topographic maps for different parts of Turkey. The study areas, each covering four neighboring 25K maps, and having an area of approximately 600 km², were chosen to represent various terrain characteristics. For the comparison, DEMs created from the 25K maps were obtained and organized as files for each map sheet in vector format, containing the digitized contour lines. From these data, DEMs in the resolution of 3 arc-second were created (25K-DEM), in the same structure as the SRTM DEM, allowing the 25K-DEMs and the SRTM DEM to be compared directly. The results show that the agreement of SRTM DEM to the 25K-DEM is within about 13 m, which is less than the SRTM's targeted error of 16 m. The spatial distribution of the height differences between SRTM-DEM and the 25K-DEM and correlation analysis show that the differences were mainly related to the topography of the test areas. In some areas, local height shifts were determined.     

An assessment on the use of Terra ASTER L3A data in landslide susceptibility mapping

The main purpose of the present study is to evaluate the potential use of Terra ASTER data—the L3A DEM and its derivatives in landslide susceptibility mapping. For the purpose, an appropriate application site from the Western Black Sea region of Turkey—the Kelemen catchment area was selected. During the analyses, a two-stage comparative evaluation was carried out. In the first stage, the differences between the DEMs obtained from Terra ASTER L3A data and the conventional topographic data; and their first and second derivatives were investigated. Subsequently, different susceptibility maps were produced by using the DEMs and the topographic attributes obtained from both source of data in addition to the spectral information acquired from satellite sensor. According to the results of the comparative evaluations, a strong correlation between Terra ASTER L3A DEM and the conventional topographic data was obtained. However, depending on the increment of the degree of the derivative, an evident decrease in the spatial correlations was observed. On the contrary, the final model performance, prediction capacity, and the spatial performance statistics for the landslide susceptibility maps produced by using both source of data were found as very high and close to each other.     

Qualitative and quantitative assessment of TanDEM-X DEM over western Himalayan glaciated terrain

Glaciers have a high impact in the socio-economic sectors including water supply, energy production, flood and avalanches. A high precision digital elevation model (DEM) is required to monitor glaciers and to study various glacier processes. The present study deals with the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the DEM generated from the bistatic TanDEM-X data by comparing it with GPS, Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) data and standard global DEMs such as Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and Advanced Space-borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global DEM (ASTER GDEM). The study area consists of highly undulating glaciated terrain in western Himalaya, India. The results reveal that TanDEM-X is slightly better than SRTM both qualitatively and quantitatively, whereas ASTER GDEM showing maximum discrepancy among the three DEMs. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of the TanDEM-X DEM with respect to GPS is 3.5 m at lower relief and 11.9 m at glaciated terrain, against 6.7 and 12.5 m for SRTM and 9.3 and 19.8 m for ASTER GDEM, respectively, for the same sites. On an average, for the whole study area, the RMSE of TanDEM-X is 7.9 m, SRTM is 9.3 m and ASTER GDM is 14.2 m. The RMSE of TanDEM-X, SRTM and ASTER GDEM with respect to ICESat are 16.3, 19.9 and 101.1 m, respectively. It is evident from the analysis that though SRTM is closer to TanDEM-X in terms of accuracy in the mountainous terrain, however, TanDEM-X will be more useful for studying glacier dynamics and topography.