Toward A New Standard for DEM Generation Based On Radar Remote Sensing Technology

Abstract

A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is fundamental geospatial data that can enable a reliable analysis of earth phenomena. For that reason, many researchers have combined DEM as an integral input consideration. On the other hand, the geospatial data and information industries require a proper standard and approach that can fulfill the user requirements in parallel with the advancement of new technologies. Therefore, DEM is a product generated from geodata acquisition that can be used as a significant input to developing a Decision Support System (DSS). The key role can be fulfilled if the quality of the product is sufficient, for example, in terms of resolution and accuracy. Defining an up-to-date and reliable standard mechanism to derive a DEM using radar interferometric data processing is the main issue for the successful production of a consistent national DEM to be used as a reference by the stakeholders. While TanDEM-X uses X-band as its medium wave, Sentinel 1 uses C-band with its advantages and drawbacks. TanDEM-X implements a more robust and consistent approach to performing the acquisition by simultaneous measurements, which are generally more accurate and reliable for the DEM generation. However, many factors influence the selection of a platform that can be best suited for radar interferometry. Finally, this paper explains the geospatial data acquisition and processing standards for the radar interferometry system that will be potentially implemented to accelerate the Large Scale Topographic Mapping (LSTM) data production. Especially in the presence of high-resolution sensors with a lot of variety in the data acquisition platform nowadays, the radar interferometry technique raises as an alternative solution to accommodate and utilize its advantages in an applicative way for LSTM purposes.