Evaluating Information Loss of SRTM DEM Data with Different Grid Sizes
Publication: Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 4
Abstract
The digital elevation products produced by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) are disseminated with different resolutions. This study investigates the differences in information content between different resolutions. Three 1° cells are selected to represent flat area, moderate terrain, and mountain ranges. All of these cells are located in the continental territory of the United States. The theory of information loss caused by the sampling density is shown with the increasing deviation from the reference in the experiment. The error resulting from bilinear interpolation is also assessed. The experimental result also indicates that if the 1-arcsecond SRTM, digital elevation model (DEM) is released for global coverage, the height accuracy would be improved over the 3-arcsecond product.
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Acknowledgments
The author thanks Prof. Peter Guth, Department of Oceanography, U.S. Naval Academy, for his great contribution of MicroDEM software and his constructive suggestions and assistance during this research. The author is grateful to the anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and suggestions, which greatly improved the paper.
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Published In
Journal of Surveying Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 4 • November 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 9, 2013
Accepted: Dec 27, 2013
Published online: Jan 2, 2014
Discussion open until: Sep 4, 2014
Published in print: Nov 1, 2014
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