I was taking a look at the Landsat data site http://glcfapp.umiacs.umd.edu:8080/esdi/index.jsp (thanks to Holger for the hint), when I found this info that might be interesting for mesh designers:"Q: When will the "Finished" SRTM datasets be available?A: JPL anticipates release of their "Finished" edition of SRTM ostensibly in Sept. 2004.The GLCF will process that data and put the revised GLCF SRTM online within two weeks."http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/data/srtm/guide.shtmlAnother quote:"JPL and the USGS plan to complete reprocessing the source collection and make the "Finished" data available in September 2004."http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/data/srtm/So, are you ready to download everything again? :-lolEmerson

Hi all.The data is already finished for much of the earth. It is not free, but is available on CD at a cost of $45 per CD with an extra $5 handling charge.http://edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/srtmbil/The Americas appear done, and most of Eurasia, some of Africa, none of Australia or the Islands, yet. They list 67 CDs, but some areas are not yet even partially available... so it will be about 75 CDs total, for a total cost of $3750 for the areas covered by SRTM data.There is no indication they will provide free finished data in the future. The USGS "National Map" seamless distribution is the raw data, as is the FTP site:http://seamless.usgs.gov/ftp://edcsgs9.cr.usgs.gov/pub/data/srtm/Get them while you can, because when the finished data becomes available, the US government may decide to not offer the raw data for free... they were meant to be used for scientists and geographers in the hopes they might help in the "polishing" of the data, or for their own projects. With the finished data, that would no longer be a need. I haven't read of a plan to take away the free data, but it is a possibility.I have the 3-arc second set on harddrive, with the SRTM30 data for filling voids. It is a little over 14.8Gb in size ( original zipped format! )... I think that would be about 4 DVDs?The price for the finished data does seem high, but it represents about 25000 separate square degrees of data. Just filling and properly leveling lakes and oceans for 1 square degree can be an hour-long project! The cost would be about $0.15 per degree processed, or do it yourself for the pay equivalent of $0.15 per hour. :(Looked at that way, the cost of the finished CDs doesn't seem so bad.Dick

HI Dick,Only problem with this data is that " . . . Small voids (16 contiguous posts or less) are filled by interpolation of surrounding elevations. Large voids are left in the data. . . ."The small voids are easily enough taken care of myself with my GIS. It's the large voids that are the problem, and they are apparently not addressed at all in this dataset.-------Justinhttp://www.fsgenesis.netHigh Quality Scenery for FS200x

Hi Justin.Yes, you're right.They are adjusting lakes and oceans, which is good, but with the large voids, we still have to work on the data. :(Not such a good "value" after all.What I have been doing with Raw SRTM is:Void extreme heights and depths.Void all data below 15 meters.Fill all the voids, both low and high, with SRTM30 data.It's quick and dirty, but it gets rid of 95% of the bad data... unfortunately I'm filling with poor data! So, I'm exchanging poor for bad. Lakes must be handled with LWM polys, anyways.Of course the cheapest way out is to pay Justin the price of a Galaxy membership, and get him to make all your mesh. :)Dick

hmm. why should the go "payware" with the raw data? doesnt make sense for me. lots of people have already dowloaded the entire package (including me) and could easily share the files if needed. and since the "processed" data does not seem to be much better as the things which have already been done by simmers, i dont think its worth to get the "processed" version too. tom

Hi, I'm actually the person that took JPL's raw data and converted to WRS2 tiles. Our principle purpose is to enable the user to have this form of data, but the freedom of filling the holes is up to each single user. Frankly speaking this is not too hard a problem but everyone has his own needs. And we expect to receive and process SRTM data again once there is an official solution for filling holes from USGS.Kuan

Dear Kuan;Thanks for the work you all have done! from the project and preparation of shuttle flight - untill the ultimate release of raw data to the public!Is a big step foward - for all who are interested in this kind of data - and you all have generously offered 90 m and 30 m elevation models - basically at no charge for all.I'm sure all other - simulation and worldwide users of this datas are very grateful to you and all those involved in this project.big thanks from me - and we looking foward to the ultimate datas - when you are ready.ray