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Description

The SRTMUS1 collection was retired on November 20, 2014, when global SRTM data became available at a resolution of 1 arc second. The data for the United States are included in the SRTMGL1 dataset.

The Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) is responsible for the archive and distribution of the NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) version SRTM, which includes the United States 1 arc second (~30 meter) product.

NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) datasets result from a collaborative effort by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA - previously known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, or NIMA), as well as the participation of the German and Italian space agencies. The purpose of SRTM was to generate a near-global digital elevation model (DEM) of the Earth using radar interferometry. SRTM was a primary component of the payload on the Space Shuttle Endeavour during its STS-99 mission. Endeavour launched February 11, 2000, and flew for 11 days.

Each SRTMUS1 data tile contains a mosaic and blending of elevations generated by averaging all "data takes" that fall within that tile. These elevation files use the extension “.HGT”, meaning height (such as N37W105.SRTMUS1.HGT). The primary goal of creating the Version 3 data was to eliminate voids that were present in earlier versions of SRTM data. In areas with limited data, existing topographical data were used to supplement the SRTM data to fill the voids. The source of each elevation pixel is identified in the corresponding SRTMUS1N product (such as N37W105.SRTMUS1N.NUM).

SRTM collected data in swaths, which extend from ~30 degrees off-nadir to ~58 degrees off-nadir from an altitude of 233 kilometers (km). These swaths are ~225 km wide and consisted of all land between 60 degrees N and 56 degrees S latitude. This accounts for about 80% of Earth’s total landmass.

Known Issues

  • Known issues in the NASA SRTM are described in the following publication:
    Rodriguez, E., C. S. Morris, and J. E. Belz (2006), A global assessment of the SRTM performance, Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sens., 72, 249–260. https://doi.org/10.14358/PERS.72.3.249

Version Description

The following improvement was implemented for SRTM Version 3 data products: Missing data or voids were filled with ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM) Version 2, the Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 (GMTED2010), or the National Elevation Dataset (NED).

Product Summary

Platforms
STS-99
Instruments
SRTM
Spatial Extent

N: 49 S: 24 E: -67 W: -125

Spatial Resolution
30 Meters x 30 Meters
Location
GLOBAL LAND
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2000-02-11 to 2000-02-21
Temporal Resolution
11 Day
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Project Office, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/SRTM)
Concept ID
C3325540069-LPCLOUD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Number of Files/Granules
0
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
RADAR IMAGERY ,
Terrain Elevation ,
Topographical Relief Maps ,
Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

NASA JPL. (2013). NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission United States 1 arc second [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/SRTM/SRTMUS1.003 Date Accessed: 2026-05-01

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
The Congo River, Central Africa Runge, Jurgen RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Potential of recurrence metrics from Sentinel-1 time series for deforestation mapping Cremer, Felix, Urbazaev, Mikhail, Cortes, Jose, Truckenbrodt, John, Schmullius, Christiane, Thiel, Christian RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Rapid prediction of the magnitude scale of landslide events triggered by an earthquake Tanyas, Hakan, van Westen, Cees J., Persello, Claudio, Alvioli, Massimiliano RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Oil palm expansion and deforestation in Southwest Cameroon associated with proliferation of informal mills Ordway, Elsa M., Naylor, Rosamond L., Nkongho, Raymond N., Lambin, Eric F. RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Relationship between land surface temperature and fraction of anthropized area in the Atlantic forest region, Brazil L. N. Wanderley, Raianny, M. Domingues, Leonardo, A. Joly, Carlos, R. da Rocha, Humberto RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Understanding the spatial and temporal dependence of the migration of conservative contaminant plume in urban groundwater environment in Panchkula region ... Guleria, Abhay, Gupta, Sharad Kumar, Gupta, Iti, Swami, Deepak, Shukla, Dericks P. RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
LTE RSRP, RSRQ, RSSNR and local topography profile data for RF propagation planning and network optimization in an urban propagation environment Simpson, Oluyomi, Sun, Yichuang RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
An image transform based on temporal decomposition Cremer, Felix, Urbazaev, Mikhail, Berger, Christian, Mahecha, Miguel D., Schmullius, Christiane, Thiel, Christian RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Presentation and Analysis of a Worldwide Database of Earthquake-Induced Landslide Inventories Tanyas, Hakan, van Westen, Cees J., Allstadt, Kate E., Anna Nowicki Jessee, M., Gorum, Tolga, Jibson, Randall W., Godt, Jonathan W., Sato, Hiroshi P., Schmitt, Robert G., Marc, Odin, Hovius, Niels RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Terrestrial support of lake food webs: Synthesis reveals controls over cross-ecosystem resource use Tanentzap, Andrew J., Kielstra, Brian W., Wilkinson, Grace M., Berggren, Martin, Craig, Nicola, del Giorgio, Paul A., Grey, Jonathan, Gunn, John M., Jones, Stuart E., Karlsson, Jan, Solomon, Christopher T., Pace, Michael L. RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Summer and winter space use and home range characteristics of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in eastern North America Miller, Tricia A., Brooks, Robert P., Lanzone, Michael J., Cooper, Jeff, O'Malley, Kieran, Brandes, David, Duerr, Adam, Katzner, Todd E. RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
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