Published: Oct 10, 2024 by ISG Board
Insights into the production process of global radar DEMs
Ernest Fahrland
Airbus, Germany
December 4th, 2024
7:00 MDT (UTC -7), 9:00 EST (UTC -5), 11:00 BRT (UTC -3), 14:00 GMT (UTC +0), 15:00 CET (UTC +1), 16:00 EET (UTC +2), 22:00 CST (UTC +8)
Recording available in our YouTube channel
Bio: Ernest Fahrland is a 3D Data Development Manager working within the Radar Programs unit of Airbus. He is a studied Cartographer and has more than 15 years of experience in the field of global Digital Elevation Models. He was involved in the process design and development of production tools for the WorldDEMTM, a consistent, highly accurate and pole-to-pole DEM, that was released in 2015. On-going acquisitions of global raw DEM data in combination with the user demand for quick delivery of error-free DEMs invoked the development of a fully automated, high-performant and consistent DEM production process, hence leading to the WorldDEM Neo product. Ernest was responsible for its development and contributed his concept ideas, processing strategies and algorithmic tools. His passion for global Digital Elevation Models and his continuous strive for improvements have paved the ground for many current DEMs such as the Copernicus DEM and its derivatives.
Abstract: In his talk, Ernest Fahrland will provide an insight into a fully-automated editing & production process of global DEM data primarily from interferometric radar DEM acquisitions. The presentation comprises a short look into the history with its manual & semi-automated DEM editing. He will also address on-going challenges with interferometry-based elevation data and provide an outlook on error compensation strategies (e.g. height reconstruction from radar amplitude data based on machine-learning techniques).
