DEM control in arctic Alaska with ICESat laser altimetry

Use of Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimetry is demonstrated for control of a digital elevation model (DEM) that is synthesized from repeat-pass ERS-1 and 2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery using interferometric SAR (InSAR). Our study area is 15 650 kM2 of the Barrow, AK coastal plain adjacent to the Arctic Ocean; a vast expanse of tundra, lakes, and arctic wetlands of such low relief as to be nearly devoid of terrain features. The accuracy of the ICESat-derived elevation measurements is assessed by comparison with differential global positioning system (DGPS) data acquired along ICESat ground tracks. The ICESat-derived elevations have a mean accuracy, relative to the DGPS elevations, of -0.01 +/- 0.18 in. ICESat-derived elevations on the Arctic coastal plain provide an excellent source for DEM control. We employ, the ICESat-derived ground control points (GCPs) in two distinct InSAR processing steps: 1) selected points are used to perform baseline refinements, which improves the ERS-1 and 2 interferograms and 2) the ICESat-derived GCP position data (latitude, longitude, elevation) are then used as control in mosaicking multiple InSAR-derived DEMs. The resulting ICESat-controlled DEM has a mean accuracy of -1.11 +/- 6.3 in relative to an independent standard, which is a commercial airborne InSAR-derived DEM having 0.5 in rms accuracy. This easily meets DTED-2 standards and suggests that DEMs derived using only ICESat altimetry for ground control would meet similar standards in other regions of low relief.