NASA, Japan Release Improved Topographic Map Of Earth

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Oct. 17, 2011

Steve Cole 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-0918 
stephen.e.cole@xxxxxxxx 

Alan Buis 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 
818-354-0474 
alan.buis@xxxxxxxxxxxx 


RELEASE: 11-351

NASA, JAPAN RELEASE IMPROVED TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF EARTH

WASHINGTON -- NASA and Japan released a significantly improved version 
of the most complete digital topographic map of Earth on Monday, 
produced with detailed measurements from NASA's Terra spacecraft. 

The map, known as a global digital elevation model, was created from 
images collected by the Japanese Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission 
and Reflection Radiometer, or ASTER, instrument aboard Terra. 
So-called stereo-pair images are produced by merging two slightly 
offset two-dimensional images to create the three-dimensional effect 
of depth. The first version of the map was released by NASA and 
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in June 2009. 

"The ASTER global digital elevation model was already the most 
complete, consistent global topographic map in the world," said Woody 
Turner, ASTER program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 
"With these enhancements, its resolution is in many respects 
comparable to the U.S. data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography 
Mission (SRTM), while covering more of the globe." 

The improved version of the map adds 260,000 additional stereo-pair 
images to improve coverage. It features improved spatial resolution, 
increased horizontal and vertical accuracy, more realistic coverage 
over water bodies and the ability to identify lakes as small as 0.6 
miles (1 kilometer) in diameter. The map is available online to users 
everywhere at no cost. 

"This updated version of the ASTER global digital elevation model 
provides civilian users with the highest-resolution global topography 
data available," said Mike Abrams, ASTER science team leader at 
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "These data can 
be used for a broad range of applications, from planning highways and 
protecting lands with cultural or environmental significance, to 
searching for natural resources." 

The ASTER data cover 99 percent of Earth's landmass and span from 83 
degrees north latitude to 83 degrees south. Each elevation 
measurement point in the data is 98 feet (30 meters) apart. 

NASA and METI are jointly contributing the data for the ASTER 
topographic map to the Group on Earth Observations, an international 
partnership headquartered at the World Meteorological Organization in 
Geneva, Switzerland, for use in its Global Earth Observation System 
of Systems. This "system of systems" is a collaborative, 
international effort to share and integrate Earth observation data 
from many different instruments and systems to help monitor and 
forecast global environmental changes. 

ASTER is one of five instruments launched on Terra in 1999. ASTER 
acquires images from visible to thermal infrared wavelengths, with 
spatial resolutions ranging from about 50 to 300 feet (15 to 90 
meters). A joint science team from the United States and Japan 
validates and calibrates the instrument and data products. The U.S. 
science team is located at JPL. 

NASA, METI, Japan's Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center 
(ERSDAC), and the U.S. Geological Survey validated the data, with 
support from the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and 
other collaborators. The data are distributed by NASA's Land 
Processes Distributed Active Archive Center at the U.S. Geological 
Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science Center in Sioux 
Falls, S.D., and by ERSDAC in Tokyo. 

Users of the new version of the ASTER data products are advised that 
while improved, the data still contain anomalies and artifacts that 
will affect its usefulness for certain applications. 

Data users can download the ASTER global digital elevation model at: 

https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/ 

or 

http://www.ersdac.or.jp/GDEM/E/4.html 

For more information about NASA's Terra mission, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/terra 

	
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