Vertical accuracy assessment for SRTM and ASTER Digital Elevation Models: A case study of Najran city, Saudi Arabia

Abstract Digital Elevation Model is imperative to many earth surface process analyses. In this study, the quality of DEMs acquired by SRTM ver.3 and ASTER ver.2 is evaluated. The reference levels produced from GPS elevations, and the topographic map is used to assess the vertical accuracy of SRTM and ASTAR DEMs in Najran city, Saudi Arabia. The GPS reference elevations gave us the values of ±5.94 m and ±5.07 m for used SRTM and ASTER DEMs. Also, by using elevation from the topographic map as a reference elevations the obtained accuracy was ±6.87 m and ±7.97 m for SRTM and ASTER DEMs. For our study area, the 30 m SRTM elevations data featured a much greater absolute vertical accuracy than the absolute vertical accuracy value of ±16 m, which published in the SRTM data specification.

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