SRTMFill

Mount Fuji Before	Mount Fuji After

Images by Chris Hanson

Instantly Clean up NULLs in SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) DEM Data!

3D Nature announces a free data processing utility for all SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) data users, just in time for Christmas! SRTMFill is a fast and easy program for patching NULL-data holes in SRTM DEMs by progressively in-filling from surrounding data, quickly making usable data from unusable DEMs. The basic version of SRTMFill is available free of charge to everyone.

SRTMFill's simple fast in-fill algorithm can patch moderate-sized NULL holes in flat or sloping terrain. It cannot, however, replace features that are entirely missing, such as putting back an entire mountain. Larges areas of NULL data will be filled with data interpolated from their surrounding edges, which may create unpleasant streaks or platforms in the resulting data. Examples of this situation may be seen in the Everest sample data shown below.

Mount Everest Before	Mount Everest After

Images by Chris Hanson

We do not recommend SRTMFill for extreme cases like these. This process can be acceptable if the area is not the center of attention. If the area of NULL data is in a critical location, we recommend merging the SRTM data with another dataset that may not have missing data in those regions. This could be accomplished using VNS2'S DEM Merger tool.