Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model Research Articles

An Integrated Approach to Modelling of Flood Hazards in the Rapidly Growing City of Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria

In recent times, the swift and uncoordinated urban expansion in the medium sized city of Osogbo has increasingly encroached on the environmental sensitive areas. This uncoordinated exploitation of the ecological fragile areas for urban development has triggered urban flooding, which poses serious threat to human lives and properties in the city. This study therefore utilized geospatial technologies to generate flood hazard model for medium sized cities in developing countries in general and Nigeria in particular with a view to identifying hotspots and providing measures to forestall flood occurrences. The study used Shuttle Radar Topography Mission-Digital Elevation Model (SRTM-DEM), Landsat 7- 2000 and Operational Land Imager 8 (OLI)- 2015 images. Multi-criteria evaluation method was used to derive the physical characteristics of watersheds from the data to delineate the areas vulnerable to flooding. Flood inundation characteristics were simulated using Hydrologic Engineering Centre-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) model with GIS interface and found discharge of over 500 m3/s for the 100-year profile period to be high, given the size of the analyzed basin (207.41 km2). The flood hazard map showed that 3.92, 103.38 and 100.11 km2 were least, moderately and highly vulnerable areas respectively. Most prone areas were built-ups with high impervious surface in the basin area where floodplain traversed high and moderate vulnerability zones. The study advocates consistent use of dynamic model within GIS for floodplain delineation and management planning to reduce the flood hazards.

Evaluating Conveyance-Based DEM Correction Technique on NED and SRTM DEMs for Flood Impact Assessment of the 2010 Cumberland River Flood

This study assessed the uncertainty in flood impact assessment (FIA) that may be introduced by errors in moderate resolution regional and moderate resolution global Digital Elevation Models (DEM). One arc-second National Elevation Dataset (NED) and one arc-second Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEMs were selected to represent moderate resolution regional and global DEMs. The relative performance for scenarios based on each of the DEMs was compared to a “control” terrain (combination of surveyed river bathymetry and a 1/3 arc-second LiDAR for floodplains)-based scenario. Furthermore, a conveyance-based DEM correction technique was applied to the DEMs for investigating the suitability of the technique on selected DEMs, and determining subsequent improvement in the FIA. The May 2010 flood on the Cumberland River near Nashville, TN, was selected as the case study. It was found that the hydraulic properties necessary to implement the selected DEM correction technique could be more readily estimated from NED compared to SRTM. However, this study also prescribed alternate methods to extract necessary hydraulic properties if the DEM quality was compromised. NED-based hydrodynamic modeling resulted in a high overestimation of the simulated flood stage, but the SRTM-based model was unable to produce any reasonable result prior to DEM correction. Nevertheless, after DEM correction, both models became stable and produced less error. Error in simulated flood consequence (i.e., total structures affected and total loss in dollars) also dropped accordingly, following the DEM correction. Therefore, application of this conveyance-based correction technique is reasonably effective on both moderate-resolution regional and global DEMs. The effectiveness of the technique on moderate resolution global DEM underscores the potential for users of remote and data-poor areas.

Comparative analysis of lineaments extracted from Cartosat, SRTM and ASTER DEM: a study based on four watersheds in Konkan region, India

In this study, lineaments have been extracted from Cartosat, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Models (DEM) of different spatial resolution. The extracted lineaments were analysed to understand which DEM is most suitable for extraction of lineaments accurately. The results have shown that maximum number of lineaments can be extracted by using Cartosat DEM while ASTER DEM provides lowest number of lineaments. As a result of this study, it is suggested to make use of Cartosat DEM for the extraction of lineaments in Indian territory (data is only available for India), because it provides the most detailed geological information among all the datasets. Cartosat DEM is also suitable for studying very small areas as detailed surface information can be extracted by using this data. SRTM DEM can be used for countries other than India, and it has the capability to deliver moderate structural information. Likewise, SRTM data is more suitable for a large study area. ASTER DEM is not recommended for the study of structural and geological surface features because most of the features cannot be extracted and the result could not be applied in the detailed geological study.

SRTM DEM-Aided Mapping Satellite-1 Image Geopositioning Without Ground Control Points

A Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM)-aided geopositioning method is proposed to solve the problem of geopositioning without ground control points for Mapping Satellite-1 imagery. The method comprises coarse and accurate correction stages, and it compensates errors gradually. DEM extraction and DEM matching are important steps in both the stages, the objectives of which are to compensate the relative and absolute errors in an image, respectively. The SRTM DEM is integrated into all the processes to take full advantage of its consistent and high accuracy. Experimental results showed that this method could greatly improve geometry accuracy and obtain stable and highly accurate geopositioning for Mapping Satellite-1 images, regardless of the land area proportion (LAP) or the production mode. The planimetric and vertical accuracies were better than 8.1 and 5.2 m, respectively, which could satisfy the accuracy requirements of mapping at 1:50 000 scale. The computational efficiency depends on the LAP and target DEM resolution.

Automatic Co-Registration of Digital Elevation Models Based on Centroids of Subwatersheds

This paper proposes a new method for automatic co-registration of digital elevation models (DEMs) based on centroids of subwatersheds. Subwatersheds are stable physical features, making their centroids more reliable and accurate as control points (CPs) than the other features. In the present method, subwatersheds are delineated from DEMs using hydrological analysis procedures. Modified invariant moments are employed to measure the similarity of subwatersheds for determining the correspondences between the reference and input. Centroids of matched subwatersheds are then derived as CP candidates, where the root-mean-square error is applied to eliminate mismatches using a global consistency check method. The established CP pairs are used to estimate parameters of a 3-D conformal transformation model, which is employed to rectify the input DEM. The accuracy of CP detection was assessed using two DEM subsets of different terrains. The results of six tests showed that the maximum shift and rotation errors were about 2 m (1/45 pixel) and 0.006°. The developed approach was used to co-register the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Global DEM to the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM at three locations. The results revealed that both the mean absolute error and the standard deviation of the elevation differences were reduced for all the tests after co-registration, showing the good performance of the proposed method. Comparisons have also been made against previous works, which suggested that our results were consistent with the previous studies.

ELEVATION-BASED SEA-LEVEL RISE VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES: ARE FREELY-AVAILABLE 30-M DEMS GOOD ENOUGH?

Abstract. We assessed the vertical accuracies and uncertainties of three freely-available global DEMs as inputs to elevation-based sea-level rise vulnerability assessment of Mindanao, Philippines – an area where above average SLR of 14.7 mm/year was recently found. These DEMs are the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM, ASTER Global DEM (GDEM Version 2), and ALOS World 3D-30 (AW3D30). Using 2,076 ground control points, we computed each DEM’s vertical accuracies and uncertainties, and from these we determined the smallest increment of sea-level rise (SLRImin) that should be considered when using the DEMs for SLR impact assessment, as well as the Minimum Planning Timeline (TLmin) for an elevation-based SLR assessment. Results of vertical accuracy assessment revealed Root Mean Square Errors of 9.80 m for ASTER GDEM V2, 5.16 m for SRTM DEM, and 4.32 m for AW3D30. Vertical uncertainties in terms of the Linear Error at 95 % Confidence (LE95) were found to be as follows: 19.21 m for ASTER GDEM V2, 10.12 m for SRTM DEM, and 8.47 m for AW3D30. From these, we found that ASTER GDEM2 is suitable to model SLR increments of at least 38.41 m and it will take 2,613 years for the cumulative water level increase of 14.7 mm/year to reach the minimum SLR increment afforded by this DEM. For the SRTM DEM, SLRImin and TLmin were computed as 20.24 m and 1,377 years, respectively. For the AW3D30, SLRImin and TLmin were computed as 16.92 m and 1,151 years, respectively. These results suggest that the readily available global DEMs' suitability for mapping coastal inundations due to SLR in our study area is limited by their low vertical accuracies and high uncertainties. All the three DEMs do not have the necessary accuracy and minimum uncertainties that will make them suitable for mapping inundations of Mindanao at smaller increments of SLR (e.g., SLR ≤ 5 m). Hence, users who apply any of these DEMs for SLR impact assessment at SLRIs lower than the DEM’s SLRImin must be cautious in reporting the areas of SLR vulnerable zones. Reporting the inundated areas as a range instead of a singular value for a given SLR scenario can highlight the inherent accuracy and uncertainty of the DEM used in the assessment.

An approach to extracting surface supply relationships between glaciers and lakes on the Tibetan Plateau

ABSTRACTSurface supply relationships between glaciers and lakes are needed to analyze and understand hydrological processes at regional and global scales. However, these supply relationships still cannot be extracted efficiently by existing methods. This paper proposes an automatic and efficient approach to extracting surface supply relationships between glaciers and lakes based on meltwater flow paths. The approach includes two stages: (1) identifying direct connections between objects (i.e. glaciers and lakes) based on flow direction derived from digital terrain analysis on a gridded digital elevation model (DEM) and (2) deriving all (or user-specified) kinds of surface supply relationships based on graph search. All computation-intensive steps in this approach have been parallelized; and all steps in the proposed approach have been integrated as an automatic program. Results for the Tibetan Plateau show that given outline data for glaciers and lakes and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM, the proposed approach can automatically derive diverse surface supply relationships under user-specified restrictions on the attributes of the supply route. The parallelization in the approach effectively improves the computing efficiency. The proposed approach could also be applied to developing a detailed fundamental dataset of supply relationships between glaciers and lakes for other region or period.

A New Method to Estimate Changes in Glacier Surface Elevation Based on Polynomial Fitting of Sparse ICESat-GLAS Footprints.

We present in this paper a polynomial fitting method applicable to segments of footprints measured by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) to estimate glacier thickness change. Our modification makes the method applicable to complex topography, such as a large mountain glacier. After a full analysis of the planar fitting method to characterize errors of estimates due to complex topography, we developed an improved fitting method by adjusting a binary polynomial surface to local topography. The improved method and the planar fitting method were tested on the accumulation areas of the Naimona’nyi glacier and Yanong glacier on along-track facets with lengths of 1000 m, 1500 m, 2000 m, and 2500 m, respectively. The results show that the improved method gives more reliable estimates of changes in elevation than planar fitting. The improved method was also tested on Guliya glacier with a large and relatively flat area and the Chasku Muba glacier with very complex topography. The results in these test sites demonstrate that the improved method can give estimates of glacier thickness change on glaciers with a large area and a complex topography. Additionally, the improved method based on GLAS Data and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission-Digital Elevation Model (SRTM-DEM) can give estimates of glacier thickness change from 2000 to 2008/2009, since it takes the 2000 SRTM-DEM as a reference, which is a longer period than 2004 to 2008/2009, when using the GLAS data only and the planar fitting method.

Reconstruction of time-varying tidal flat topography using optical remote sensing imageries

Tidal flats (TFs) occupy approximately 7% of the total coastal shelf areas worldwide. However, TFs are unavailable in most global digital elevation models (DEMs) due to water-impermeable nature of existing remote sensing approaches (e.g., radar used for WorldDEM™ and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM and optical stereo-pairs used for ASTER Global Digital Elevation Map Version 2). However, this problem can be circumvented using remote sensing imageries to observe land exposure at different tidal heights during each revisit. This work exploits Landsat-4/-5/-7/-8 Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced TM Plus/Operational Land Imager imageries to reconstruct topography of a TF, namely, Hsiang-Shan Wetland in Taiwan, to unveil its formation and temporal changes since the 1980s. We first classify water areas by applying modified normalized difference water index to each Landsat image and normalize chances of water exposure to create an inundation probability map. This map is then scaled by tidal amplitudes extracted from DTU10 tide model to convert the probabilities into actual elevations. After building DEM at intertidal zone, a water level-area curve is established, and accuracy of DEM is validated by sea level (SL) at the timing of each Landsat snapshot. A 22-year (1992–2013) dataset composed of 227 Landsat scenes are analyzed and compared with tide gauge data. Root-mean-square differences of SL reaches 48cm with a correlation coefficient of 0.93, indicating that the present technique is useful for constructing accurate coastal DEMs, and that products can be utilized for estimating instant SL. This study shows the possibility of exploring evolution of intertidal zones using an archive of optical remote sensing imageries. The technique developed in the present study potentially helps in quantifying SL from the start of optical remote sensing era.

High-resolution digital elevation models from single-pass TanDEM-X interferometry over mountainous regions: A case study of Inylchek Glacier, Central Asia

This study demonstrates the potential of using single-pass TanDEM-X (TDX) radar imagery to analyse inter- and intra-annual glacier changes in mountainous terrain. Based on SAR images acquired in February 2012, March 2013 and November 2013 over the Inylchek Glacier, Kyrgyzstan, we discuss in detail the processing steps required to generate three reliable digital elevation models (DEMs) with a spatial resolution of 10m that can be used for glacial mass balance studies. We describe the interferometric processing steps and the influence of a priori elevation information that is required to model long-wavelength topographic effects. We also focus on DEM alignment to allow optimal DEM comparisons and on the effects of radar signal penetration on ice and snow surface elevations. We finally compare glacier elevation changes between the three TDX DEMs and the C-band shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) DEM from February 2000. We introduce a new approach for glacier elevation change calculations that depends on the elevation and slope of the terrain. We highlight the superior quality of the TDX DEMs compared to the SRTM DEM, describe remaining DEM uncertainties and discuss the limitations that arise due to the side-looking nature of the radar sensor.

Control quality of open source Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in Tunisia

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are an invaluable source of information in large area studies. Some of the DEMs such as Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Radiometer-Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM), shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM), and Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 (GMTED2010) are freely available for the scientific community worldwide. Prior to any application, global datasets of DEMs should be evaluated using reference data of higher accuracy. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the quality of the ASTER GDEM (version 2), SRTM (version 4) and systematic subsample GMTED2010 in Tunisia. The validation process, adopted here, is based on two main approaches: internal and external validations. The internal validation is achieved by performing visual inspection of shaded relief images extracted from the three DEMs. At this level, results show that SRTM is essentially similar to ASTER GDEM2 in term of relief features representation. In the second alternative, the vertical accuracy of each DEM is evaluated using 60 Global Positioning System (GPS) validation points. The overall vertical accuracy shows RMSE error of 11.96 m, 8.65 m and 10.86 m for ASTER GDEM2, SRTM and GMTED2010 DEM respectively, in comparison with GPS elevation points.

Creating high-resolution bare-earth digital elevation models (DEMs) from stereo imagery in an area of densely vegetated deciduous forest using combinations of procedures designed for lidar point cloud filtering

For areas of the world that do not have access to lidar, fine-scale digital elevation models (DEMs) can be photogrammetrically created using globally available high-spatial resolution stereo satellite imagery. The resultant DEM is best termed a digital surface model (DSM) because it includes heights of surface features. In densely vegetated conditions, this inclusion can limit its usefulness in applications requiring a bare-earth DEM. This study explores the use of techniques designed for filtering lidar point clouds to mitigate the elevation artifacts caused by above ground features, within the context of a case study of Prince William Forest Park, Virginia, USA. The influences of land cover and leaf-on vs. leaf-off conditions are investigated, and the accuracy of the raw photogrammetric DSM extracted from leaf-on imagery was between that of a lidar bare-earth DEM and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM. Although the filtered leaf-on photogrammetric DEM retains some artifacts of the vegetation canopy and may not be useful for some applications, filtering procedures significantly improved the accuracy of the modeled terrain. The accuracy of the DSM extracted in leaf-off conditions was comparable in most areas to the lidar bare-earth DEM and filtering procedures resulted in accuracy comparable of that to the lidar DEM.

COMPARISON OF ASTER AND SRTM DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS AT ONE-ARC-SECOND RESOLUTION OVER TURKEY

In February 2000, the “Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)” satellite captured elevation data by scanning the Earth landmasses between the 60 o North and South latitudes. After the mission of 11 days, the collected data were processed, and a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) within one arc-second resolution for United States and three arc-second resolutions for the other parts of the globe was created and published on the NASA servers. Recently, a global SRTM DEM with one-arc-second resolution has been released. Additionally, ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) is a sensor boarded on the Terra satellite in 1999. The sensor has been collecting satellite imagery since 2000. The ASTER GDEM at one-second resolution was released to the public, which is the most complete DEM of the earth ever made. In this study, SRTM and ASTER DEMs with one arc-second resolution over Turkish territory was evaluated by means of a local DEM produced from 1:25K national topographic maps. Results show that the accuracy of the SRTM DEM is better than the ASTER GDEM with respect to the local DEM.

Topographic Correction of Landsat TM-5 and Landsat OLI-8 Imagery to Improve the Performance of Forest Classification in the Mountainous Terrain of Northeast Thailand

The accurate mapping and monitoring of forests is essential for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems. Advancements in the Landsat satellite series have been very useful for various forest mapping applications. However, the topographic shadows of irregular mountains are major obstacles to accurate forest classification. In this paper, we test five topographic correction methods: improved cosine correction, Minnaert, C-correction, Statistical Empirical Correction (SEC) and Variable Empirical Coefficient Algorithm (VECA), with multisource digital elevation models (DEM) to reduce the topographic relief effect in mountainous terrain produced by the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)-5 and Operational Land Imager (OLI)-8 sensors. The effectiveness of the topographic correction methods are assessed by visual interpretation and the reduction in standard deviation (SD), by means of the coefficient of variation (CV). Results show that the SEC performs best with the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) 30 m × 30 m DEM. The random forest (RF) classifier is used for forest classification, and the overall accuracy of forest classification is evaluated to compare the performances of the topographic corrections. Our results show that the C-correction, SEC and VECA corrected imagery were able to improve the forest classification accuracy of Landsat TM-5 from 78.41% to 81.50%, 82.38%, and 81.50%, respectively, and OLI-8 from 81.06% to 81.50%, 82.38%, and 81.94%, respectively. The highest accuracy of forest type classification is obtained with the newly available high-resolution SRTM DEM and SEC method.

Mapping Glacier Elevations and Their Changes in the Western Qilian Mountains, Northern Tibetan Plateau, by Bistatic InSAR

Accurate measurements of glacier surface topography and their changes play an essential role in various glaciological studies related to glacier dynamics and mass balance. The focus of this study is on mapping glacier digital elevation model (DEM) and elevation changes in the western Qilian Mountains, northern Tibetan Plateau, by synergistically using the TanDEM-X (TDX) bistatic Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data in 2013 and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM in 2000. The first high-resolution and high-precision glacier DEM is derived in this region by a TDX InSAR procedure with a nonlocal (NL) filter. Validated against the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) height references, the absolute height error of the TanDEM-X DEM derived with the NL filter and the Goldstein filter with the parameters investigated is, respectively, 1.493 ± 0.747 and 1.857 ± 1.709 m. Further, four combinations of differential phase method (DiffPha) and DEM differencing method (DiffDem) with Goldstein filter and NL filter are applied to estimate glacier elevation changes between 2000 and 2013. The synergistic use of the DiffPha method and the NL filter is superior to other three combinations in terms of uncertainty and noise reduction. Generally, a clear surface thinning can be found in most glacier tongue regions, the maximum value of elevation lowering up to approximately −40 m, whereas a slight thickening is detected in accumulation areas, which are in agreement with the height difference results between GPS measurements and SRTM DEM over Laohugou Glacier No.12. This study demonstrates the potential of the TanDEM-X bistatic InSAR in mapping surface topography and elevation changes of valley glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau.

Vulnerability Studies of Sensitive Watershed Areas of Owerri South East Nigeria Using Digital Elevation Models

The impact of human activities on sensitive watershed terrains is a critical consideration in the management of urban ecosystems. Degradation of sensitive ecosystem features such as watershed land areas is often irreversible due to the extent and intensity. The vulnerability of 150 m watershed management zone of Otamiri river Owerri Imo State, Nigeria was studied by topographic analysis using 1977 digital elevation model (DEM), 1977 aerial photos, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission DEM of 2000, 2012 satellite imagery and the 2016 Master Plan of the study area. The impact of human activities in elevation change was observed in the parts of substantial human activities while topographical stability was recorded for areas of very low human activities.

DEM sourcing guidelines for computing 1 Eö accurate terrain corrections for airborne gravity gradiometry

In this paper we investigate digital elevation model (DEM) sourcing requirements to compute gravity gradiometry terrain corrections accurate to 1Eötvös (Eö) at observation heights of 80m or more above ground. Such survey heights are typical in fixed-wing airborne surveying for resource exploration where the maximum signal-to-noise ratio is sought. We consider the accuracy of terrain corrections relevant for recent commercial airborne gravity gradiometry systems operating at the 10Eö noise level and for future systems with a target noise level of 1Eö. We focus on the requirements for the vertical gradient of the vertical component of gravity (Gdd) because this element of the gradient tensor is most commonly interpreted qualitatively and quantitatively.Terrain correction accuracy depends on the bare-earth DEM accuracy and spatial resolution. The bare-earth DEM accuracy and spatial resolution depends on its source. Two possible sources are considered: airborne LiDAR and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The accuracy of an SRTM DEM is affected by vegetation height. The SRTM footprint is also larger and the DEM resolution is thus lower. However, resolution requirements relax as relief decreases. Publicly available LiDAR data and 1arc-second and 3arc-second SRTM data were selected over four study areas representing end member cases of vegetation cover and relief.The four study areas are presented as reference material for processing airborne gravity gradiometry data at the 1Eö noise level with 50m spatial resolution. From this investigation we find that to achieve 1Eö accuracy in the terrain correction at 80m height airborne LiDAR data are required even when terrain relief is a few tens of meters and the vegetation is sparse. However, as satellite ranging technologies progress bare-earth DEMs of sufficient accuracy and resolution may be sourced at lesser cost. We found that a bare-earth DEM of 10m resolution and 2m accuracy are sufficient for achieving 1Eö accuracy in the terrain correction independent of relief or vegetation cover. For AGG systems operating at greater noise levels the 3arc-second SRTM is adequate for areas having tens of meters of relief and sparse vegetation and even for areas of greater relief and sparse vegetation if a constant elevation survey is flown at 80m above terrain peak.

Assessing groundwater accessibility in the Kharga Basin, Egypt: A remote sensing approach

We used multi-map analysis of remote sensing and ancillary data to identify potentially accessible sites for groundwater resources in the Kharga Basin in the Western Desert of Egypt. This basin is dominated by Cretaceous sandstone formations and extends within the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer. It is dissected by N-S and E-W trending faults, possibly acting as conduits for upward migration of groundwater. Analysis of paleo-drainage using Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generated from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data shows that the Kharga was a closed basin that might have been the site of a paleo-lake. Lake water recharged the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer during the wetter Holocene time. We generated the following layers for the multi-map analysis: (1) Fracture density map from the interpretation of Landsat Operational Land Imager (OLI), SRTM DEM, and RADARSAT data. (2) Thermal Inertia (TI) map (for moisture content imaging) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. (3) Hydraulic conductivity map from mapping lithological units using the Landsat OLI and previously published data. (4) Aquifer thickness map from previously published data. We quantitatively ranked the Kharga Basin by considering that regions of high fracture density, high TI, thicker aquifer, and high hydraulic conductivity have higher potential for groundwater accessibility. Our analysis shows that part of the southern Kharga Basin is suitable for groundwater extraction. This region is where N-S and E-W trending faults intersect, has relatively high TI and it is underlain by thick aquifer. However, the suitability of this region for groundwater use will be reduced significantly when considering the changes in land suitability and economic depth to groundwater extraction in the next 50 years.

Determination of sand dune characteristics through geomorphometry and wind data analysis in central Iran (Kashan Erg)

The combination of wind measurements and remotely sensed geomorphometry indices provides a valuable resource in the study of desert landforms, because arduous desert environments are difficult to access. In this research, we couple wind data and geomorphometry to separate and classify different sand dunes in Kashan Erg in central Iran. Additionally, the effect of sand-fixing projects on sand dune morphology was assessed using geomorphometry indices (roughness, curvature, surface area, dune spacing and dune height). Results showed that a Digital Elevation Model of the National Cartographic Center of Iran (NCC DEM) with 10-m resolution and accuracy of 54% could discriminate geomorphometry parameters better than the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data with 30-m resolution and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data with 90-m resolution and 45.2 and 1.6% accuracy, respectively. Low classification of SRTM DEM was associated with too many non-value points found in the DEM. Accuracy assessment of comparison ground control points revealed that ASTER DEM (RMSE = 4.25) has higher accuracy than SRTM and NCC DEMs in this region. Study of curvature showed that transverse and linear sand dunes were formed in concave topography rather than convex. Reduced slopes in fixed sand dunes were established due to wind erosion control projects. Measurements of dune height and spacing show that there is significant correlation in compound dunes (R 2 = 0.546), linear dunes (R 2 = 0.228) and fixed dunes (R 2 = 0.129). In general, the height of dunes in Kashan Erg increases from the margin of the field to the center of the field with a maximum height of 120 m in star dunes. Analysis of wind data showed that sand drift potential is in low-medium class in Kashan Erg. Linear sand dunes in Kashan Erg show that they are following a global trend in forming of these. Finally, established of geomorphometry method in dune classification will help researchers to identify priority of land management and performance assessment of sand dunes fixing projects in arid arduous environment.

OPEN-SOURCE DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL (DEMs) EVALUATION WITH GPS AND LiDAR DATA

Abstract. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer-Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), and Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 (GMTED2010) are freely available Digital Elevation Model (DEM) datasets for environmental modeling and studies. The quality of spatial resolution and vertical accuracy of the DEM data source has a great influence particularly on the accuracy specifically for inundation mapping. Most of the coastal inundation risk studies used the publicly available DEM to estimated the coastal inundation and associated damaged especially to human population based on the increment of sea level. In this study, the comparison between ground truth data from Global Positioning System (GPS) observation and DEM is done to evaluate the accuracy of each DEM. The vertical accuracy of SRTM shows better result against ASTER and GMTED10 with an RMSE of 6.054 m. On top of the accuracy, the correlation of DEM is identified with the high determination of coefficient of 0.912 for SRTM. For coastal zone area, DEMs based on airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) dataset was used as ground truth data relating to terrain height. In this case, the LiDAR DEM is compared against the new SRTM DEM after applying the scale factor. From the findings, the accuracy of the new DEM model from SRTM can be improved by applying scale factor. The result clearly shows that the value of RMSE exhibit slightly different when it reached 0.503 m. Hence, this new model is the most suitable and meets the accuracy requirement for coastal inundation risk assessment using open source data. The suitability of these datasets for further analysis on coastal management studies is vital to assess the potentially vulnerable areas caused by coastal inundation.