Background
Digital elevation models (DEMs) provide a high-resolution depiction of the land surface and are important to update in regions that change frequently. Volcanoes, geohazards, mining subsidence, and urban growth (plus more) all contribute to rapid changes in local topography. High-resolution DEMs have been requested in every Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) assessment cycle because they provide fundamental topographic underpinning for the processes that each land monitoring agency tracks.
Agencies in the 2020 assessment cycle expressed the need to track changes in topography over time: dynamic topography. This activity, informed by the SNWG-2020 cycle, produces and distributes two 2.0 m DEM products: a near-Global Mosaic Earth DEM and DEM strips where new data was acquired for detailed change detection.
The Global Mosaic EarthDEM product is updated annually when new data are acquired. The DEM strips are at locations where Worldview collected stereo imagery. The two data products are made available to government agencies as per the licensing agreement.
Status: Available Now
The NGA Electro-Optical Commercial Layer (EOCL)/NextView License allows NASA to distribute the Polar Geospatial Center 2 m EarthDEM products to United States government funded partners. EarthDEM products are available through NASA's Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program to U.S. federal employees, U.S. federal contractors, and U.S. government-funded partners. This includes the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded scientists. This update provides access to the EarthDEM data.
Characteristics
| Platforms | Temporal Frequency | Horizontal Resolution | Geographic Domain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldview-1, Worldview-2, Worldview-3, GeoEye-1 | Varies | 2 m, 4-5 m | 60°N to 60°S |
Societal Impact
Improved access to data products from commercial systems, reduced latency acquisitions, and improved derivation of new research and operational products will enable new opportunities for research and applications across thematic areas.
Resources
For more information about accessing and using commercial data, visit the following resources: