Global Digital Elevation Model

The ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) was released by NASA and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) last week. NASA describes the data set:

ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) is an imaging instrument flying on Terra, a satellite launched in December 1999 as part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS). ASTER is a cooperative effort between NASA, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Japan's Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center (ERSDAC). ASTER is being used to obtain detailed maps of land surface temperature, reflectance and elevation.

[right top, Grand Canyon lava flows. right bottom, Morenci mine. Both from ASTER image gallery. Credit, NASA]