Aster Global Digital Elevation Model

NASA / Aster image draped over terrain model of Mount Etna

The Aster (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) Global Digital Elevation Model - or short just Aster GDEM - is a joint US and Japanese effort. It is based on data from sensors on board on the NASA Terra satellite launched in 1999. The first release of the Aster GDEM dataset was in June 2009.

Data Coverage

It has a 30 m resolution with a 99% global coverage. However, the current version of the dataset is marked as ‘research grade’, and is reported to contain serious artifacts and spikes.

Availability in WindPRO

Currently, the dataset is not included with WindPRO, primarily because the data license does not allow redistribution of the raw data. However, you may choose to manually download the source DEM’s yourself and then import it into WindPRO.

Download of ASTER GDEM data

You may download the data from the Aster GDEM site at:

• http://www.gdem.aster.ersdac.or.jp
• http://reverb.echo.nasa.gov/reverb

External Links

• More information on ASTER data is available from NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/