A digital elevation model (DEM) is a digital representation of the Earth's bare ground topographic surface. It's also known as a digital terrain model (DTM)
There are several global elevation datasets available, including:
- SRTM: The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is a global dataset that provides elevation data for the Earth's surface. It has a resolution of about 30 meters.
- GMTED2010: The Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 provides a new level of detail in global topographic data. It contains seven new raster elevation products for each of the 30-, 15-, and 7.5-arc-second spatial resolutions.
- GTOPO30: The Global Topographic Elevation Model is a global dataset that was developed by the US Geological Survey in 1996. It has a horizontal resolution of 30 arc-seconds for the entire Earth.
- NASADEM: This is a reprocessing of SRTM data to improve its accuracy. It was released by NASA in 2020.
- ETOPO1: This is a digital elevation model that includes both topography and bathymetry for the entire world. It consists of more than 233 million elevation values which are regularly spaced at 1 minute of latitude and longitude.
These datasets can be used for a variety of purposes, including mapping, modeling, and analysis.
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