Evaluating the quality of the Digital Elevation Models produced from ASTER stereoscopy for topographic mapping in the Brazilian Amazon Region

Cleber G De Oliveira,Waldir R Paradella

doi:10.1590/s0001-37652009000200008

Cleber G De Oliveira, Waldir R Paradella

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0001-37652009000200008

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Abstract

Brazilian Amazon is a vast territory rich in natural renewable and non-renewable resources. Due to the adverse environmental condition (rain, cloud, dense vegetation) and difficult access, topographic information is still poor, and when available needs to be up-dated or remapped. In this paper, the feasibility of using elevation generated from orbital ASTER- stereo-pairs images for topographic mapping was investigated for the mountainous relief in the Serra dos Carajás, Pará. The quality of information derived from these optical images was evaluated regarding field altimetric measurements. Precise topographic field information acquired from Global Positioning System (GPS) was used as Ground Control Points (GCPs) for the modeling of the stereoscopic Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and as Independent Check Points (ICPs) for the calculation of elevation accuracies. The analysis was performed following two approaches: (1) the use of Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and (2) calculations of trend analysis and accuracy. The investigation has shown that the altimetric accuracy from ASTER fulfilled the Brazilian Map Accuracy Standards elevation requirements for 1:100,000 A Class. In addition, ASTER can provide up-dated planimetric information that is also necessary for cartographic production. Thus, when the environment condition allows the acquisition of stereo-pairs, the use of ASTER can be considered an alternative for semi-detailed topographic mapping in similar environments of the Brazilian Amazon.

Highlights

Brazilian Amazon, with almost 5,500,000 km2, presents, under an apparently homogeneous forest physiognomy, an enormous spatial variability in climate, geology, soils, river systems, plant and animal communities
First results were published in the literature with a general consensus of the elevation accuracy with ASTER stereo-pairs ranging from ±7 m to ±15 m (Toutin 2002, Hirano et al 2003)
Starting with 6 Ground Control Points (GCPs) and 42 Independent Check Points (ICPs), additional GCPs points were gradually added with the corresponding Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) being analyzed regarding quality and statistics up to the final combination using 28 GCPs and 20 ICPs for accuracy estimation from the total of 48 Global Positioning System (GPS) available

Summary

Introduction

Brazilian Amazon, with almost 5,500,000 km, presents, under an apparently homogeneous forest physiognomy, an enormous spatial variability in climate, geology, soils, river systems, plant and animal communities. First results were published in the literature with a general consensus of the elevation accuracy with ASTER stereo-pairs ranging from ±7 m to ±15 m (Toutin 2002, Hirano et al 2003). Additional results have been presented focusing on the generation of DEMs and its accuracy (ERSDAC 2001, Toutin and Cheng 2001, Cheng and McBean 2002, Toutin 2002, Hirano et al 2003, Cuartero et al 2005, Eckert et al 2005, Fujisada et al 2005, San and Süzen 2005), on the application of ASTER for analyzing supraglacial lakes (Wessels et al 2002) and hazard modeling in Mexico (Huggel et al 2008). A complete review of the usage of ASTER imagery was recently published considering Geosciences application and DEM generation (Toutin 2008)

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