New Alaska Elevation Data Now Available

[JosephKerski]

Exciting news from the Arctic! Version 2 of the Arctic DEM has been released. Topographic elevation of the Arctic can now be viewed and analyzed like never before. This release extends the detailed 2 meter Alaska elevation data with additional 2m data for Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, as well as preliminary 8 meter data for the entire Arctic.  Additional detailed 2 meter elevation data will be released in quarterly installments over 2017 until the arctic data is complete.  This is the result of a partnership between Esri, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the National Science Foundation, and the Polar Geospatial Center at the University of Minnesota.

In September 2016, the US at the White House hosted an Arctic Ministerial meeting, with over 20 countries represented, where this data was showcased and new commitments on data provisions were sought.  The goal of the meeting and the new data is to help people better understand, adapt to, and address the changing conditions in the Arctic.

The four key themes include:

• Understanding Arctic-Science Challenges and their Regional and Global Implications.
• Strengthening and Integrating Arctic Observations and Data Sharing.
• Applying Expanded Scientific Understanding of the Arctic to Build Regional Resilience and Shape Global Responses.
• Using Arctic Science as a Vehicle for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education and Citizen Empowerment.

To access the data, start  with the NGA Arctic Support story map here and spend time on the ‘Arctic Digital Elevation Model (ArcticDEM) ’ tab.  The embedded apps provide interactive access to the elevation. The data is described in an article here from Medium.com and an article from National Geographic here.  This story map illustrates the visualizations that can be generated with the click of the mouse for any ..., and a swipe story map explains the background on Digital Elevation Models and compares the new elevation d... The DEMs have been computed from high resolution stereo Digital Globe satellite imagery.

The DEM Explorer is a web app that allows the data user to zoom to any area and review different visualizations such as hillshade, slope, aspect, contours. As the data is temporal in many areas, users can see how the data is changing over time and summarize elevation change for a selected areas.  The Change Viewer is a simpler app that allows a user to click a point and graphically view the historic... Access to these services is also available in a wide range of applications through the Arctic DEM Group in ArcGIS Online.   Most of the apps use the polar projections to reduce distortions which would become severe in generic mapping applications.  Finally, a video tour of the story map highlights many of the above products and services.

Quite a bit of publicity and press surrounds these data sets, but all of it is good news.  Don’t let the flood of information prevent you from taking the time to investigate these resources and spend some time exploring the Arctic.  The actual data is accessible through the web services, and will be of great benefit for anyone doing research in the Arctic, as the map below should make very clear.

Alaska DEMs showing the heretofore available data (left) and the new data (right).

[RebeccaStrauch__GISP]

Sharing this blog with the Alaska GIS Users‌ but also want to make sure it is known that there are some limitations, especially for any analysis. Nicole Kinsman of NOAA presented her initial review and analysis, and with her permission, I'm attaching her slides from the presentation (see note below).   She recommends reading thru the docs and the map tours for more information, but her summary is great for a quick view and understanding of the data.

For those in Alaska, keep in mind that this data set it not the same as data being collected thru the Alaska Geospatial Council  (formally called SDMI). 

NOTE: I can't seem to attache a PDF to this note, so will upload to the https://community.esri.com/groups/alaska-gis-users?sr=search&searchId=ba54a987-763c-4f90-8446-12eae4...‌ page.

[JosephKerski]

Thanks for clarifying. I tried to post this directly on GeoNet but wasn’t allowed to. I do appreciate it.

Joseph

Joseph J. Kerski, Ph.D., GISP | Education Manager

Esri | 1 International Court | Broomfield CO 80021-3200 | USA

Tel 303-449-7779, ext. 1-8237 | Cell-Mobile 303-625-3925

jkerski@esri.com<mailto:jkerski@esri.com> | esri.com<http://esri.com/>

Twitter: http://twitter.com/josephkerski

[RebeccaStrauch__GISP]

Here's the link and my note on the Alaska User page

https://community.esri.com/docs/DOC-8861-unpackingarcticdemv1kinsman20160914pdf 

Main take home from her quick review is the ArcticDEM data is not bare earth, so keep that in mind when using this data.

[JosephKerski]

I updated the post on 29 September based on valued input from Esri colleagues.  Thanks everyone!

[BehnamAzmoon]

Thank you for this informative post. I'm looking for historical DEMs for the US. I noticed that this Arctic Map explorer has an option for changing the date. I've seen some topographic maps, but no DEMs. 

Would you please tell me if there is such historical DEMs are available for the US?