C32B-03
Digital Elevation Models of Greenland based on combined radar and laser altimetry as well as high-resolution stereoscopic imagery

Wednesday, 16 December 2015: 10:50
3007 (Moscone West)
Joanna F Levinsen1, Benjamin Eaton Smith2, Louise Sandberg Sorensen3, Kirill Khvorostovsky4, Sebastian B. Simonsen3 and Rene Forsberg3, (1)Danish Geodata Agency, Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate, Copenhagen, Denmark, (2)University of Washington Seattle Campus, Seattle, WA, United States, (3)DTU Space, National Space Institute, Geodynamics, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, (4)Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Polar Environmental Remote Sensing, Bergen, Norway
Abstract:
A number of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of Greenland exist, each of which are applicable for different purposes. This study presents two such DEMs: One developed by merging contemporary radar and laser altimeter data, and one derived from high-resolution stereoscopic imagery. All products are made freely available.

The former DEM covers the entire Greenland. It is specific to the year 2010, providing it with an advantage over previous models suffering from either a reduced spatial/ temporal data coverage or errors from surface elevation changes (SEC) occurring during data acquisition. Radar data are acquired with Envisat and CryoSat-2, and laser data with the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite, the Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor, and the Airborne Topographic Mapper. Correcting radar data for errors from slope effects and surface penetration of the echoes, and merging these with laser data, yields a DEM capable of resolving both surface depressions as well as topographic features at higher altitudes. The spatial resolution is 2 x 2 km, making the DEM ideal for application in surface mass balance studies, SEC detection from radar altimetry, or for correcting such data for slope-induced errors.

The other DEM is developed in a pilot study building the expertise to map all ice-free parts of Greenland. The work combines WorldView-2 and -3 as well as GeoEye1 imagery from 2014 and 2015 over the Disko, Narsaq, Tassilaq, and Zackenberg regions. The novelty of the work is the determination of the product specifications after elaborate discussions with interested parties from government institutions, the tourist industry, etc. Thus, a 10 m DEM, 1.5 m orthophotos, and vector maps are produced. This opens to the possibility of using orthophotos with up-to-date contour lines or for deriving updated coastlines to aid, e.g., emergency management. This allows for a product development directly in line with the needs of parties with specific interests in Greenland.

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