QGIS
Open SourceVerified
The free, open-source GIS that has become the default spatial platform for water engineers worldwide.
Geospatial & Hydro-GISActiveQGIS HydrologyTerrain Analysis
ASTER GDEM
StableA 30m global DEM reaching to 83° latitude — the go-to where SRTM/NASADEM have no coverage at all.
by METI (Japan) / NASA
- Pricing
- Gov-Public
- License
- Free (METI/NASA data policy, worldwide)
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Ecosystem
- GDAL, Any GIS
- Platform
- Windows, macOS, Linux
About ASTER GDEM
ASTER GDEM, a joint METI/NASA product, stacks stereo-pair optical imagery into a 30m global elevation model covering 83°N to 83°S — well beyond SRTM-derived products' 60°N/56°S limits. Coverage is its selling point; vertical accuracy and optical-derived artefacts (cloud contamination, water-body noise) are noticeably rougher than SRTM or Copernicus DEM in overlapping areas.
Reach for it specifically for high-latitude catchments — northern Canada, Scandinavia, Siberian basins — where nothing else free is available; elsewhere Copernicus DEM or NASADEM are the better choice.
Where it fits in the workflow
TerrainCatchmentRainfallRunoffRoutingHydraulicsMappingReporting
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