Comparison of DEMs derived from SRTM/X- and C-band

In February 2000, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) successfully mapped the entire landmass between 60deg N and 54deg S using an Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). The data were acquired in Cand X-band and were independently processed to Digital Elevation Models (DEM) by NASA-JPL (C-band) and DLR (X-band). A commonly used source was the Position and Attitude Determination Record (PADR) generated by the Attitude Orbit Determination Avionics (AODA) system. The PADR file provides the orbit and baseline information. All C- and X-band data were systematically processed to 1 arc-second resolution DEMs. The X-band DEMs are globally available at DLRs German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD). USGS provides the C-band derived elevation data in 1 arc-second for the US and globally a reduced version with 3 arc-second spacing. The presentation compares the X- and C-band derived elevation models. Starting from the individual verification results the correspondence of the SRTM DEMs with respect to height and location accuracy is investigated. Potential global and local discrepancies are discussed. Both datasets are compared to the Altimetry Corrected Elevations global DEM (ACE)