This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Fisher, P. F. Articles by Tate, N. J. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Causes and consequences of error in digital elevation models

Department of Information Science, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK

Nicholas J. Tate

Department of Geography, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK

All digital data contain error and many are uncertain. Digital models of elevation surfaces consist of files containing large numbers of measurements representing the height of the surface of the earth, and therefore a proportion of those measurements are very likely to be subject to some level of error and uncertainty. The collection and handling of such data and their associated uncertainties has been a subject of considerable research, which has focused largely upon the description of the effects of interpolation and resolution uncertainties, as well as modelling the occurrence of errors. However, digital models of elevation derived from new technologies employing active methods of laser and radar ranging are becoming more widespread, and past research will need to be re-evaluated in the near future to accommodate such new data products. In this paper we review the source and nature of errors in digital models of elevation, and in the derivatives of such models. We examine the correction of errors and assessment of fitness for use, and finally we identify some priorities for future research.

Key Words: digital elevation model • digital surface model • error modelling • fitness for use • uncertainty • visualization

Progress in Physical Geography, Vol. 30, No. 4, 467-489 (2006)
DOI: 10.1191/0309133306pp492ra


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Xiaoye Liu Airborne LiDAR for DEM generation: some critical issues Progress in Physical Geography, February 1, 2008; 32(1): 31 - 49. [Abstract] [PDF]