| Description: | [DES Seminar] Prof. Malya Mukul (IIT Bombay) -- GNSS Positioning and its Use to Assess Vertical Accuracy of SRTM Data Products: Implications for Geomorphology and Neotectonics |
| Date: | Friday, Jun 17, 2016 |
| Time: | 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. |
| Venue: | G05, Lecture Hall Complex |
| Details: | The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) generated a widely used digital topography data source in 2000 that has been available in 3-arc (horizontal resolution 90m) since the last 15 years or so. It has been widely accepted that the vertical accuracy of the data is at least 10m (Root Mean Square Error). Digital Elevation Models using SRTM data have been constructed and used for studies in Geomorphology and Neotectonics with this assumption for the last 15 years and SRTM data have been used "as is" or without analysing and filtering any outliers or any corrections. The talk uses GNSS Positioning to illustrate that this popular approach is not very meaningful and the assumptions made about the vertical accuracy of the SRTM heights do not apply to "as is" data. Consequently, geomorphic indices computed using these data are not statistically meaningful and interpretations drawn from them to understand neotectonics in active settings like the Himalaya may also need to be revisited. Simple strategies to improve the accuracy of the SRTM data before their use are also suggested. |
| Calendar: | Seminar Calendar (entered by devojyoti.adak) |