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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2007; v. 283; p. 143-147;
DOI: 10.1144/SP283.13
© 2007 Geological Society of London

Articles

Mapping remote areas using SRTM and ASTER digital elevation model data: a solution to orientation problems

I. Dowman & P. Balan

Department of Geomatic Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK, (e-mail: idowman{at}ge.ucl.ac.uk)

Digital elevation models (DEMs) are used in many applications and some of them, such as geomorphological or geological applications, need DEMs to be generated over a very large area, with high resolution. As high-resolution sensors cover smaller areas, DEMs could be generated only for those areas that could be mosaiced later to cover the total area. If no ground control points are accessible, individual DEM tiles pose orientation problems during mosaicing, as the stereo models are not adjusted to each other. These orientation problems are addressed in this paper. Differences between the adjacent DEM tiles include tilt and vertical offset. A solution is proposed to remove such tilt and vertical offset and/or to register the relative DEMs to a reference DEM, if available. Results are presented of a case study over part of the Zagros Mountains, Iran, covering 72 065 km2. The software tool developed in this study was applied to mosaic 14 ASTER DEMs: no ground control points were used for any of those DEM tiles or for the mosaic. An SRTM DEM of 90 m grid spacing was used to register the mosaic to achieve the absolute orientation.