Skip to main content

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 track. Agencies in the 2020 Assessment cycle expressed the need to track changes in topography over time: dynamic topography. The proposed SNWG-2020 activity would produce and distribute 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 would be updated annually when new data are acquired. The DEM strips are at locations where Worldview collected stereo imagery. The two data products would be made available to Government agencies as per the licensing agreement. 

Status

The NGA's Electro-Optical Commercial Layer (EOCL)/NextView License allows NASA to distribute the Polar Geospatial Center 2-m EarthDEM products to U.S. Government funded researchers. EarthDEM products are available through NASA's Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition (CSDA) program to United States (U.S.) Federal employees, U.S. Federal contractors, and U.S. Government-funded researchers. This update provides access to the EarthDEM data. It does not generate the annual/global mosaics that were identified in the proposed SNWG-2020 activity.

Solution Characteristics

PlatformsTemporal FrequencyHorizontal ResolutionGeographic DomainThematic Areas
Worldview-1, Worldview-2, Worldview-3, GeoEye-1, Planet Dove ClassicVaries2 m, 4-5 mGlobalDisaster Response, Earth Surface and Interior, Land Cover and Land Use Change

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.

Solution Resources

Need help using this solution? For more information about accessing and using commercial data, visit the following resources: