Accuracy assessment of GDEM, SRTM, and DLR-SRTM in Northeastern China

This paper compares the accuracy of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM), Shuttle RadarTopography Mission (SRTM) C-band and German Aerospace Centre (DLR)-SRTM X-band digital elevation models (DEMs) with the Ziyuan 3 (ZY-3) stereoscopic DEM and ground control points (GCPs). To date, the horizontal error of these DEMs has received little attention in accuracy assessments. Using the ZY-3 DEM as reference, this study examines (1) the horizontal offset between the three DEMs and the reference DEM using the normalised cross-correlation method, (2) the vertical accuracy of those DEMs using kinematic GPS data and (3) the relationship between the three DEMs and the reference ZY-3 DEM. The results show that the SRTM and DLR-SRTM have greater vertical accuracy after applying horizontal offset correction, whereas the vertical accuracy of the ASTER GDEM is less than the other two DEMs. These methods and results can be useful for researchers who use DEMs for various applications.