Sensitivity of digital elevation models: The scenario from two tropical mountain river basins of the Western Ghats, India

A comparative analysis of digital elevation models (DEMs) reveals that SRTM and ASTER provide reliable topographic representations for tropical mountain river basins, with SRTM demonstrating higher vertical accuracy despite coarser resolution. The study evaluated DEMs from ASTER, SRTM, GMTED2010, and Survey of India's TOPO data across two Western Ghats basins—Muthirapuzha River Basin (MRB) and Pambar River Basin (PRB)—using topographic attributes like elevation, slope, curvature, and drainage network characteristics. While ASTER and SRTM aligned closely with TOPO, GMTED2010 showed significant deviations, rendering it less suitable for mountain-river-basin-scale studies. Vertical accuracy was found to be influenced by terrain relief and vegetation type, with SRTM outperforming others (RMSE: 23 m in MRB, 20 m in PRB) compared to ASTER (33 m, 24 m) and GMTED (59 m, 48 m).

Thomas, J., Joseph, S., Thrivikramji, K. P., & Arunkumar, K. S. (2014). Sensitivity of digital elevation models: The scenario from two tropical mountain river basins of the Western Ghats, India. Geoscience Frontiers, 5(6), 893–909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2013.12.008