Open AccessQuality Assessment of Digital Elevation Models in a Treeless High-Mountainous Landscape A Case Study from Mount Aragats, Armenia
Author(s) -
Pavol Hnila,
Julia Elicker
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
magazèn
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2724-3923
DOI - 10.30687/mag/2724-3923/2021/03/003
Subject(s) - digital elevation model , shuttle radar topography mission , advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer , remote sensing , elevation (ballistics) , physical geography , geology , cartography , geography , geometry , mathematics
Global Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are widely employed in geoarchaeology. Usually, their adequacy for particular landscapes is not tested. We assessed 30m-resolution-DEMs (ASTER, SRTM, ALOS, EU-DEM, NASADEM, NEXTMap) with local precision datasets. Our results reveal considerable differences (ASTER unsuitable for the region, NEXTMap and EU-DEM fit most closely to our reference model). This outcome does not necessarily apply to all similar regions. It rather stresses the need for a check of DEMs’ quality in any given study area, and it encourages the use of detailed topographic visualisations of DEMs in absence of suitable reference data.