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ASTER Global Digital Elevation Map
ASTER Global Digital Elevation Map Announcement
The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) of Japan and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) jointly announced the release of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER)
Global Digital Elevation Model Version 3 (GDEM 003), and the ASTER Water Body Dataset (ASTWBD) on August 5, 2019.
The first version of the ASTER GDEM, released in June 2009, was generated using stereo-pair images collected by the ASTER instrument onboard Terra. ASTER GDEM coverage spans from 83 degrees north latitude to 83 degrees south, encompassing 99
percent of Earth's landmass.
The improved GDEM V3 adds additional stereo-pairs, improving coverage and reducing the occurrence of artifacts. The refined production algorithm provides improved spatial resolution, increased horizontal and vertical accuracy. The ASTER GDEM V3 maintains the GeoTIFF format and the same gridding and tile structure as V1 and V2, with 30-meter postings and 1 x 1 degree tiles.
Version 3 shows significant improvements over the previous release. However, users are advised that the data contains anomalies and artifacts that will impede effectiveness for use in certain applications. The data are provided "as is,"
and neither NASA nor METI/Japan Space Systems (J-spacesystems) will be responsible for any damages resulting from use of the data.
An additional global product is now available: the ASTER Water Body Dataset (ASTWBD). This raster product identifies all water bodies as either ocean, river, or lake. Each GDEM tile has a corresponding Water Body tile.
The GDEM and ASTWBD are available for download from NASA Earthdata and Japan Space Systems.
This ASTER product is available at no charge for any user pursuant to an agreement between METI and NASA. For more information about the GDEM, see the Validation Report:
ASTER GDEM V2 Validation Summary Report.
Below are browse images derived from ASTER GDEM globe map data sets. The full data set can be downloaded from the links above.
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