The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission C-band data for North America and South
America are available to the public.
The SRTM
radar contained two types of antenna panels, C-band and X-band. The near-global topographic
maps of Earth called Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are made from the
C-band radar data. These data were processed at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory and are being distributed through the
United States
Geological Survey's EROS Data Center.
Data from the X-band radar are used to create
slightly higher resolution DEMs but without the global coverage of the
C-band radar. The SRTM X-band radar data are being processed and
distributed by the German Aerospace Center, DLR
ABOUT THE X-band DATA:
To access X-band data products and information, go to the DLR web site.
Virtually all of the land surface between +/- 60
degrees latitude was mapped by SRTM. Processing of the C-band
data took two years. During this time, JPL generated and released
"showpiece" derived products (shaded relief, perspective views, anaglyphs,
etc.) produced from preliminary DEMs.
Perspective View with Landsat Overlay, Antelope Valley CA
Shaded Relief, Color as Height, Salalah Oman
Anaglyph with Landsat Overlay, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia (requires 3D glasses)
Radar Image, Wrapped Color as Height, Los Angeles
Note: All topics below pertain to the SRTM C-band radar data.