Full catalog/SRTMGL3_NC
SRTMGL3_NC·v003·dataset

Global elevation map, coarser (NetCDF, 90 m)

NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Global 3 arc second NetCDF V003
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 3 netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. A worldwide map of land elevation - how high the ground is above sea level - at a coarser spacing of about 90 meters between points.

How it's made. Derived from the Space Shuttle's radar mapping mission (STS-99 in 2000) by averaging the finer 30-meter elevation data down to 90 meters, delivered in NetCDF format.

How & where you'd use it. A widely used base map of Earth's terrain, handy for mapping, watershed and flood analysis, and any work needing terrain heights where the coarser resolution is sufficient.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › RADAR › RADAR IMAGERYLAND SURFACE › TOPOGRAPHY › TERRAIN ELEVATIONLAND SURFACE › TOPOGRAPHY › TERRAIN ELEVATION › TOPOGRAPHICAL RELIEF MAPS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-02-11 → 2000-02-21
  • Measured bySTS-99 (SRTM C-BAND RADAR)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -56, 180, 60
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

The Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) is responsible for the archive and distribution of NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments ([MEaSUREs](https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/competitive-programs/measures )) SRTM, which includes the global 3 arc second (~90 meter) product. The 3 arc second data was derived from the 1 arc second using averaging methods. (See Figure 3 in the User Guide) The NASA SRTM data sets result from a collaborative effort by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA - previously known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, or NIMA), as well as the participation of the German and Italian space agencies. This collaboration aims to generate a near-global digital elevation model (DEM) of Earth using radar interferometry. SRTM was the primary (and virtually only) payload on the STS-99 mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which launched February 11, 2000 and flew for 11 days. The SRTM swaths extended from ~30 degrees off-nadir to ~58 degrees off-nadir from an altitude of 233 kilometers (km), creating swaths ~225 km wide, and consisted of all land between 60° N and 56° S latitude to account for 80% of Earth's total landmass. The SRTMGL3 data were generated from [SRTM1GL](https://doi.org/10.5067/MEaSUREs/SRTM/SRTMGL1.003) data that fall within that tile. These elevation files use the extension ".HGT", meaning height (such as N37W105.SRTMGL3.HGT). The primary goal of creating the Version 3 data was to eliminate gaps, or voids, that were present in earlier versions of SRTM data. In areas with limited data, existing topographical data were used to supplement the SRTM data to fill the voids. The source of each elevation pixel is identified in the corresponding [SRTMGL3N](https://doi.org/10.5067/MEaSUREs/SRTM/SRTMGL3N.003) product (such as N37W105.SRTMGL3N.NUM). The global 3 arc second SRTM product is also available in NetCDF4 format as the SRTMGL3_NC dataset with the source of each elevation pixel in the corresponding SRTMGL3_NUMNC product. Known Issues * Known issues in the NASA SRTM are described in the following publication: * Rodriguez, E., C. S. Morris, and J. E. Belz (2006), A global assessment of the SRTM performance, Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sens., 72, 249–260. https://doi.org/10.14358/PERS.72.3.249

Get the data

srtmgl3_nc_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="SRTMGL3_NC",
    version="003",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from LPCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.