Remotely Sensed ASTER and SRTM DEMs Performance Analysis on Bhopal Terrain

The open source ASTER GDEM appears to be the highest resolution global digital elevation model, with 30 m resolution (1 arc second) worldwide. SRTM DEM available with 90 m resolution worldwide (3 arc second), moreover at U.S. geographic area it is available with 30 m resolution. In this research paper we have compared the ASTER GDEM with SRTM DEM of Bhopal district of the Madhya Pradesh. We have analyzed each DEM with terrain parameters derived from them, statistical histogram parameters and visual performance comparison through the image draping techniques. For a descriptive comparison, we looked at shaded reflectance maps, which generally provide a better depiction of the terrain than simple elevation maps and at the same time highlights quality issues in the DEM. The 3 arc second DEM available from SRTM giving essentially near equivalent performance to ASTER 1 arc second data. Much of GDEM, perhaps up to 20% of the data aligned in tiles, has data anomalies that degrade its use for most applications, so preferentially better option is to use the Shuttle Radar DEM.