Automatic Editing of the Global TanDEM-X DEM

Abstract:
The global TanDEM-X DEM has been acquired between 2011 and 2014 and generated until 2016. Between 2017 and 2021, a second complete coverage of the Earth was acquired by the mission. The processing of this so-called “TanDEM-X DEM 2020”, relies on an edited version of the first global TanDEM-X DEM at 30 m resolution. This edited DEM facilitates the phase unwrapping and hence significantly accelerates the DEM processing. The paper in hand describes the automatic editing of the global DEM. It explains the detection of DEM gaps and different methods to fill these void areas with external information or derived values. Furthermore, for the editing of water bodies different techniques are used to flatten oceans, lakes and rivers respectively. Finally, an overview on the status of the global editing process and further improvements are presented.