TanDEM-X Mission: Raw DEM Generation

Abstract:
The Raw Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is the primary output of the Integrated TanDEM-X Processor. In this paper we present the algorithms used for the last step of the processor, straight after phase unwrapping in the interferometric chain. For the generation of a DEM we adopt a powerful and fast technique based on the geometrical trends of the interferometric phase. Moreover we generate a set of maps assessing the quality of the estimated terrain heights: the first map uses the propagation of the errors in the interferometric chain; the second gives a glance of the troublesome regions of the estimation (layover, shadow, water regions and phase unwrapping flags). Dual-pass TerraSAR-X data is used for the validation of the algorithms.