First Evaluation Results of the Water Indication Mask as a By-product of the TanDEM-X DEM

Abstract

The main goal of the TanDEM-X mission is the production of a global Digital Elevation Model (DEM). A byproduct is the so-called Water Indication Mask (WAM). The purpose of this supplementary information layer is to support the DEM editing process where the DEM is noisy. The WAM is derived from the SAR amplitude and the single-pass coherence. In this paper, the methodology of the water body detection is briefly explained and the results of four test sites covering different climatic regions are evaluated. The different characteristics of the WAM using amplitude and coherence image are described and their respective pros and cons are discussed.