SRTM

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission collected topographic data over nearly 80 percent of Earth's land surfaces, creating the first-ever near-global data set of land elevations.

On February 11, 2000, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) payload onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour launched into space. With its radars sweeping most of the Earth's surfaces, SRTM acquired enough data during its ten days of operation to obtain the most complete near-global high-resolution database of the Earth's topography.

To acquire topographic (elevation) data, the SRTM payload was outfitted with two radar antennas. One antenna was located in the shuttle's payload bay, the other on the end of a 60-meter (200-foot) mast that extended from the payload pay once the Shuttle was in space.

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is an international project spearheaded by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Links

• SRTM Website
• USGS SRTM Fact Sheet

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