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Description

The ASTGTM.002 dataset was decommissioned as of August 5, 2019. Users are encouraged to use the new improved ASTGTM.003 dataset.

The ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTGTM) was developed jointly by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI).

ASTER is capable of collecting in-track stereo using nadir- and aft-looking near infrared cameras. Since 2001, these stereo pairs have been used to produce single-scene (60 kilometers by 60 kilometers) digital elevation models (DEM) having vertical root mean square error (RMSE) accuracies generally between 10 and 25 meters.

The methodology used by Japan's Sensor Information Laboratory Corporation (SILC) to produce the ASTER GDEM involves automated processing of the entire (ASTER Level 1A) archive. Stereo-correlation is used to produce over one million individual scene-based ASTER DEMs, to which cloud masking is applied to remove cloudy pixels. All cloud-screened DEMS are stacked and residual bad values and outliers are removed. Selected data are averaged to create final pixel values, and residual anomalies are corrected before partitioning the data into 1 degree by 1 degree tiles.

The ASTER GDEM covers land surfaces between 83 degrees N and 83 degrees S and is comprised of 22,702 tiles. Tiles that contain at least 0.01% land area are included. The ASTER GDEM is distributed as Geographic Tagged Image File Format (GeoTIFF) files with geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude). The data are posted on a 1 arc second (approximately 30 meters at the equator) grid and referenced to the 1984 World Geodetic System (WGS84)/1996 Earth Gravitational Model (EGM96) geoid.

While the ASTER GDEM Version 002 benefits from substantial improvements over ASTER GDEM Version 001, users are nonetheless advised that the products still may contain anomalies and artifacts that will reduce its usability for certain applications because they can introduce large elevation errors on local scales. The data are provided “as is” and neither NASA nor METI/ERSDAC will be responsible for any damages resulting from use of the data.

ASTER GDEM data are subject to redistribution and citation policies. Previously, ASTER GDEM Version 2 (ASTGTM V002) data required users to agree to only redistribute data products to individuals within their organization or project of intended use, or in response to disasters in support of the GEO Disaster Theme prior to downloading data. In addition, the following sentence was required to be included in publications that used the data: "ASTER GDEM is a product of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and NASA." Projects that are continuing to use ASTER GDEM Version 2 data are required to continue following these redistribution and citation requirements."

Version Description

The ASTGTM.002 dataset was decommissioned as of August 5, 2019. Users are encouraged to use the new improved ASTGTM.003 dataset.

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra
Instruments
ASTER
Spatial Extent
N: 82 S: -83 E: 180 W: -180
Geographic Region
GLOBAL LAND
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
1999-12-18 to 2011-02-28
Temporal Resolution
1 Year
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
ASTER, JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, NASA (NASA/JPL/ASTER)
Concept ID
C3346613085-LPCLOUD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Terrain Elevation,
Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM),
Topographical Relief Maps

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. (2009). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.002 Date Accessed: 2025-11-02

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author
From glacial erosion to basin overfill—A 240 m-thick overdeepening–fill sequence in Bern, Switzerland Schwenk, M. A.
High resolution luminescence chronology of coastal dune deposits near Chumphon, Western Gulf of Thailand Miocic, J. M.
Numerical modeling for the temporal variations of the water interchange between groundwater and surface water in a regional great lake (Poyang Lake, China) Zhou, P.
Estimation and spatiotemporal variation analysis of net primary productivity in the Upper Luanhe River Basin in China from 2001 to 2017 combining with a downscaling method Liu, Q.
Gapless-REMA100—A gapless 100-m reference elevation model of Antarctica with voids filled by multi-source DEMs Dong, Y.
Land use classification of open-pit mine based on multi-scale segmentation and random forest model Yu, X.
Remote sensing techniques in the investigation of aeolian sand dunes—A review of recent advances Zheng, Z.
Surface water temperature prediction in large-deep reservoirs using a long short-term memory model Wang, L.
Evaluation of shannon entropy and weights of evidence models in landslide susceptibility mapping for the Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand State, India Dam, N. D.
Geochemical anomaly definition using stream sediments landscape modeling Wang, H.
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Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
DEM Digital Elevation Model Meters int16 -9999 -9999 to 9000 N/A
NUM Quality Assurance (Number of scenes) N/A int16 -1 -1 to 200 N/A
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