Development of an Antarctic digital elevation model by integrating cartographic and remotely sensed data: A geographic information system based approach

We present a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the Antarctic. It was created in a geographic information system (GIS) environment by integrating the best available topographic data from a variety of sources. Extensive GIS-based error detection and correction operations ensured that our DEM is free of gross errors. The carefully designed interpolation algorithms for different types of source data and incorporation of surface morphologic information preserved and enhanced the fine surface structures present in the source data. The effective control of adverse edge effects and the use of the Hermite blending weight function in data merging minimized the discontinuities between different types of data, leading to a seamless and topographically consistent DEM throughout the Antarctic. This new DEM provides exceptional topographical details and represents a substantial improvement in horizontal resolution and vertical accuracy over the earlier, continental-scale renditions, particularly in mountainous and coastal regions. It has a horizontal resolution of 200 m over the rugged mountains, 400 m in the coastal regions, and approximately 5 km in the interior. The vertical accuracy of the DEM is estimated at about 100–130 m over the rugged mountainous area, better than 2 m for the ice shelves, better than 15 m for the interior ice sheet, and about 35 m for the steeper ice sheet perimeter. The Antarctic DEM can be obtained from the authors.

[1]  S. Auerbach,et al.  Surface representations reproducing given digitized contour lines , 1990 .

[2]  C. Bentley,et al.  RISS, RISP and RIGGS: Post-IGY glaciological investigations of the Ross Ice Shelfin the U.S. programme , 1981 .

[3]  A comparison of satellite-altimetry and ice-thickness measurements of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica , 1994 .

[4]  Jonathan L. Bamber,et al.  An improved elevation dataset for climate and ice-sheet modelling: validation with satellite imagery , 1997 .

[5]  A.P.R. Cooper,et al.  An Antarctic GIS: the first step , 1993 .

[6]  H. Zwally,et al.  Ice measurements by Geosat radar altimetry , 1987 .

[7]  Richard H. Rapp,et al.  The Ohio State 1991 geopotential and sea surface topography harmonic coefficient models , 1991 .

[8]  Berthold K. P. Horn,et al.  Hill shading and the reflectance map , 1981, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[9]  P. Yoeli.  Cartographic Contouring with Computer and Plotter , 1984 .

[10]  Charles R. Bentley,et al.  Airborne-radar studies: Ice Streams A, B and C, West Antarctica , 1993 .

[11]  Poul Frederiksen,et al.  Terrain analysis and accuracy prediction by means of the Fourier transformation , 1981 .

[12]  H. Jay Zwally,et al.  Analysis and retracking of continental ice sheet radar altimeter waveforms , 1983 .

[13]  K. C. Jezek,et al.  The RADARSAT Antarctic Mapping Project , 1998, IGARSS '98. Sensing and Managing the Environment. 1998 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing. Symposium Proceedings. (Cat. No.98CH36174).

[14]  H. Jay Zwally,et al.  Surface elevation contours of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets , 1983 .

[15]  I. Smith,et al.  A three-dimensional time-dependent model of the West Antarctic ice sheet , 1984 .

[16]  H. Weaver.  Applications of Discrete and Continuous Fourier Analysis , 1983 .

[17]  R. McDonald.  Opening the cold war sky to the public: declassifying satellite reconnaissance imagery , 1995 .

[18]  A. Jenkins,et al.  Ice-Ocean Interaction On Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica , 1991, Annals of Glaciology.

[19]  S. Ekholm,et al.  A full coverage, high-resolution, topographic model of Greenland computed from a variety of digital elevation data , 1996 .

[20]  G. Robinson,et al.  THE ACCURACY OF DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS DERIVED FROM DIGITISED CONTOUR DATA , 1994 .

[21]  Hongxing Liu.  Generation and refinement of a continental scale digital elevation model by integrating cartographic and remotely sensed data : a GIS-based approach / , 1999 .

[22]  M. Hutchinson.  A new procedure for gridding elevation and stream line data with automatic removal of spurious pits , 1989 .

[23]  D. Vaughan,et al.  Validating and improving elevation data of a satellite-image map of Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica with results from ERS-1 , 1994 .

[24]  J. Ridley,et al.  The Topography and Surface Characteristics of the Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica, Using Satellite Altimetry , 1989, Journal of Glaciology.