The ATL08 as a height reference for the global digital elevation models

High-quality height reference data are embedded in the accuracy verification processes of most remote sensing terrain applications. The Ice, Cloud, and Land elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2)/ATL08 terrain product has shown promising results for estimating ground heights, but it has not been fully eva...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geo-spatial information science 2024-03, Vol.27 (2), p.327-346
Main Authors: Osama, Nahed, Shao, Zhenfeng, Ma, Yue, Yan, Jianguo, Fan, Yewen, Magdy Habib, Shaimaa, Freeshah, Mohamed
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
ASTER (radiometer)
ATL08
digital elevation model (DEM)
Digital Elevation Models
digital terrain model (DTM)
Elevation
Errors
ICESat-2
Land cover
Lidar
Mountain regions
Mountainous areas
Mountains
Remote sensing
slope
terrain
Terrain models
Thermal emission
Uncertainty
validation
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Summary:High-quality height reference data are embedded in the accuracy verification processes of most remote sensing terrain applications. The Ice, Cloud, and Land elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2)/ATL08 terrain product has shown promising results for estimating ground heights, but it has not been fully evaluated. Hence, this study aims to assess and enhance the accuracy of the ATL08 terrain product as a height reference for the newest versions of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), and TanDEM-X (TDX) DEMs over vegetated mountainous areas. We used uncertainty-based filtering method for the ATL08 strong and weak beams to enhance their accuracy. Then, the results were evaluated against a reference airborne LiDAR digital terrain model (DTM), by selecting 10,000 points over the entire area and comparing the accuracy of ASTER, SRTM, and TDX DEMs assessed by the LiDAR DTM to the accuracy of the ASTER, SRTM, and TDX DEMs assessed by the ATL08 strong beams, weak beams, and all beams. We also detected the impact of the terrain aspect, slope, and land cover types on the accuracy of the ATL08 terrain elevations and their relationship with height errors and uncertainty. Our findings show the accuracy of the ATL08 strong beams was enhanced by 43.91%; while the weak beams accuracy was enhanced by 74.05%. Furthermore, slope strongly influenced ATL08 height errors and height uncertainty; especially on the weak beams. The errors induced by the slope significantly decreased when the uncertainty levels were reduced to
ISSN:1009-5020
1993-5153
DOI:10.1080/10095020.2022.2087108