ArcticDEM Validation & Accuracy Assessment

Salvatore G Candela, Ohio State University, candela.13@osu.edu
Ian Howat, Ohio State University, howat.4@osu.edu
Paul Morin, University of Minnesota - Polar Geospatial Center, lpaul@umn.edu
Myoung-Jong Noh, Ohio State University, noh.5@osu.edu
Claire Porter, Polar Geospatial Center, University of Minnesota, porte254@umn.edu
Elizabeth E Hoy, NASA GSFC / Global Science and Technology, Inc., elizabeth.hoy@nasa.gov (Presenter)

The topography of the Arctic was among the most poorly mapped on Earth. Yet, the terrain of the Arctic is undergoing rapid changes making such data critical for both scientific investigations and infrastructure planning. The objective of ArcticDEM is to produce and openly distribute high resolution (2-5 m) Digital Surface Models (DSMs) of the entire Arctic landmass, including all areas above 60 degrees N, and all of Alaska, Greenland and the Kamchatka Peninsula. While the DSMs have an internal (pixel-to-pixel) accuracy of 0.2 m (Noh and Howat, 2015), the initial geolocation may have systematic offsets of 3-5 m in the vertical and horizontal resulting from sensor model errors. Both the strips and mosaics are registered to seasonally-subsetted and quality controlled ICESat-1 elevations due its density of coverage at high latitudes and high report accuracy (~10cm). ICESat, however, has a relatively coarse measurement footprint (~70 m) which may impact the precision of the registration. Further, the ICESat data predates the ArcticDEM imagery by a decade, so that temporal changes in the surface may also impact the registration. Finally, biases may exist between different the different sensors in the ArcticDEM constellation. Our objective is to use high-accuracy airborne LiDAR surveys conducted close in time to DSM acquisition to constrain the vertical accuracy of ArcticDEM strips over a range of terrains.

Presentation: ASTM4_Poster_Candela_48_122.pdf (416336k)

Associated Project(s): 

• Morin-01

Poster Location ID: 48

Session Assigned: Modeling