A Low-Cost GPS-Based Protocol to Create High-Resolution Digital Elevation Models for Remote Mountain Areas

Matthew Fry,Alexandra G Ponette-González,Kenneth R Young

doi:10.1659/mrd-journal-d-14-00065.1

Matthew Fry, Alexandra G Ponette-González + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd-journal-d-14-00065.1

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Abstract

Researchers and development practitioners in remote mountain areas rely on elevation data to study vegetation dynamics, natural hazards, land use, and other patterns. However, despite advances in technology, accurate digital elevation models (DEMs) with spatial resolution <30 m do not exist for most of the world's montane regions. We used a low-cost GPS-based protocol to construct a high-resolution (10 m) DEM for a rugged, remote mountain site in the northern Peruvian Andes. Elevation data were collected with handheld GPS units and combined with digitized and interpolated points within a Geographic Information System to generate a 10 m DEM. Additional DEMs were generated using 50%, 20%, and 15% of the surface points collected and from a 1∶100,000 topographic map and ASTER GDEMv2 data. Estimated absolute vertical accuracy of the GPS surface-point DEMs was significantly lower than that of the ASTER GDEMv2 and topographic map DEMs. Relative vertical accuracy, a better measure of DEM quality, was considerably lower for all 6 DEMs than absolute vertical accuracy. Depending on project budget, time, and labor availability, this method can be used to produce DEMs with high spatial resolution and substantially improved relief maps for research, visualization, and communication purposes. Implementation of this method is practical in locations without access to electricity or post-processing correction facilities, open-canopy land covers, and projects with small budgets that involve local participants.

Highlights

Coupled with latitude and longitude, elevation provides 3-dimensional (3D) locational information describing terrain which is essential in mountain research and development (Korner 2007; Malhi et al 2010)
The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a high-resolution (#10 m) digital elevation models (DEMs) for a remote site in the northern Peruvian Andes using a lowcost protocol based on the Global Positioning System (GPS); (2) compare and contrast the spatial resolution and accuracy of DEMs generated from surface-point, contourline, and remotely sensed data; and (3) identify advantages and disadvantages of a GPS-based protocol for constructing high-resolution DEMs in remote mountain areas, making these findings of general importance
We developed 4 DEMs with,30 m spatial resolution using a low-cost GPS-based protocol for a remote mountain site in the northern Peruvian Andes, for which elevation data at this resolution do not currently exist

Summary

Introduction

Coupled with latitude and longitude, elevation provides 3-dimensional (3D) locational information describing terrain which is essential in mountain research and development (Korner 2007; Malhi et al 2010). Studies show that increasing elevation causes fundamental changes in species distribution (Feeley et al 2011), crop diversity (Zimmerer 1999), agricultural land use (Guillet 1981; Brush 1982; Young 1993a), net primary productivity (Beck et al 2008; Zhang et al 2013), and biogeochemical cycling (Girardin et al 2010; Ramos-Scharron et al 2012). The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM, www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/) provides 90 m resolution elevation data (Figure 1A) suitable for regional and continental applications, such as mapping land cover and interpolating climate surfaces (Hijmans et al 2005). The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global Digital Elevation Model Version 2 (ASTER GDEMv2, http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gdem.asp) is a data set with 30 m intervals (Figure 1B) that has been

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