The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission: A Global DEM

Author: Tom G. Farr
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

4800 Oak Grove Dr
Pasadena, CA 91109
USA

Phone: 818-354-9057
Fax: 818-354-9476
tom.farr@jpl.nasa.gov

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is a cooperative project between NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense. The mission is designed to use a single-pass radar interferometer to produce a digital elevation model of the earth's land surface between about 60 degrees north and south latitude. The DEM will have 30-m pixel spacing and about 15-m vertical errors. A rectified C-band radar image mosaic is also planned to be produced.

SRTM will use the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SIR-C/X-SAR was a cooperative project between NASA and the German and Italian space agencies and obtained data for over 50 science investigations. To collect the interferometric data, a 60-m mast, additional C-band antenna, and improved tracking and navigation devices will be added. A second X-band antenna will also be added by the German Space Agency, which will produce higher resolution topographic measurements in strips nested within the full C-band coverage.

The SRTM flight is currently manifested for late 1999; data processing will take one to two years. More information can be found at the SRTM Web site at  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/.