DeltaDTM

DeltaDTM: A global coastal digital terrain model

Pronk, M.J. (TU Delft Urban Data Science; Deltares)
Hooijer, Aljosja (Deltares)
Eilander, Dirk (Deltares)
Haag, Arjen (Deltares)
de Jong, Tjalling (Deltares)
Vousdoukas, Michalis (University of the Aegean, Mytilene)
Vernimmen, Ronald (Data for Sustainability, Axel)
Ledoux, H. (TU Delft Urban Data Science)
Eleveld, M.A. (TU Delft Mathematical Geodesy and Positioning; Deltares)

2024

Coastal elevation data are essential for a wide variety of applications, such as coastal management, flood modelling, and adaptation planning. Low-lying coastal areas (found below 10 m +Mean Sea Level (MSL)) are at risk of future extreme water levels, subsidence and changing extreme weather patterns. However, current freely available elevation datasets are not sufficiently accurate to model these risks. We present DeltaDTM, a global coastal Digital Terrain Model (DTM) available in the public domain, with a horizontal spatial resolution of 1 arcsecond (∼30 m) and a vertical mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.45 m overall. DeltaDTM corrects CopernicusDEM with spaceborne lidar from the ICESat-2 and GEDI missions. Specifically, we correct the elevation bias in CopernicusDEM, apply filters to remove non-terrain cells, and fill the gaps using interpolation. Notably, our classification approach produces more accurate results than regression methods recently used by others to correct DEMs, that achieve an overall MAE of 0.72 m at best. We conclude that DeltaDTM will be a valuable resource for coastal flood impact modelling and other applications.

energy access
energy security
power distribution

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bf89da1d-0ef5-4ec6-b1d0-e39d4bfe3a99

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03091-9

2052-4463

Scientific Data, 11

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2024 M.J. Pronk, Aljosja Hooijer, Dirk Eilander, Arjen Haag, Tjalling de Jong, Michalis Vousdoukas, Ronald Vernimmen, H. Ledoux, M.A. Eleveld