Error assessment of digital elevation models obtained by interpolation

There have been few studies focused on assessing the errors inherent of digital elevation models (DEM). For this reason, the errors of DEM obtained by different programs of interpolation (ARC/INFO, IDRISI, ILWIS and NEW-MIEL) and with different resolutions, were evaluated in order to obtain a more p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Mas, Jean François, Pérez Vega, Azucena
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2009
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Investigaciones Geográficas
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/18004
Acceso en línea:https://www.investigacionesgeograficas.unam.mx/index.php/rig/article/view/18004
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Digital elevation model
error
interpolation
relief
Modelos digitales de elevación
interpolación
relieve
Descripción
Sumario:There have been few studies focused on assessing the errors inherent of digital elevation models (DEM). For this reason, the errors of DEM obtained by different programs of interpolation (ARC/INFO, IDRISI, ILWIS and NEW-MIEL) and with different resolutions, were evaluated in order to obtain a more precise representation of the relief. This evaluation of the methods of interpolation is crucial, because DEMs are the most effective representation of the terrestrial surface for terrain analysis and are widely used in environmental sciences. The results show that the resolution, the interpolation algorithm and the inputs (contours only or along with streams and points) influence the amount of error importantly. In the present study, carried out with 50 m contour data in a mountainous area, the most suitable resolution was 30 m. The MDE with the minor error (Root Mean Square Error −RMSE− of 7.3 m) was obtained by ARC/ INFO. Nevertheless, free programmes such as NEW-MIEL or ILWIS allowed obtaining result with a RMSE of 10 m.