TransDEM Forum

G'day All,

Went to the ASTER GDEM website today to download some DEM data for the route I am working on, only to be confronted by a 'notice' saying ..."...Service suspended..."... Does anyone else know of this?

Jerker {:)}

Are you trying to access the old site? With ASTER GDEM Version 2 the data has moved to Echo Reverb. There is a also a new tutorial.

G'day geophil,

Yes, Roland, I was using the usual 'link' I have stored in my 'Bookmarks', which went to the 'old' site (as you call it). I managed to find my way back to the original JPL website where I found the links to the Echo Reverb site but couldn't fathom the site quickly enough for the amount of time involved, so I went to the alternative (the USGS's "Global Data Explorer"/LPDAAC), which was somewhat more intuitive and obtained the data I wanted from there. Now that I have the time to spare, I shall take a look through the Echo Reverb site (such a strange name; both parts mean the same thing) and the tutorial to which you have linked me to determine if that is actually a 'better' option...

...the odd thing about this is that it wasn't all that long ago (only a week or two) since my last visit there and I saw absolutely nothing regarding a 'shut down' of the site...

Jerker {:)}

G'day geophil,

Well, Roland, I've now had a chance to check out the Reverb|Echo site and without the tutorial, managed to obtain an order for some data. I then looked through the tutorial to see if I had missed anything and although I didn't see the option to obtain the data via FTP, it appears I did everything else as it should have been done. I have to say, however, that I am not impressed. I performed these aforementioned tasks about an hour and a half ago and although I received an e-mail within 5 minutes to tell me that the 'order' I had placed was being processed, I have not as yet received any indication that it is available. Yesterday when I used the LDPAAC site, I was able to download the data I wanted instantaneously, without any of the rigmarole involved with Reverb|Echo...

...I know which site I will be using in the future...

Jerker {:)}}

As most people will now be using Echo Reverb, I guess demand for the old site is low and response is faster. In the old days, with 1st generation ASTER you had to wait 2 to 6 weeks. Then they started charging for it.

My experience end of last year was not that bad. A couple of minutes before the mail with the download link arrived.

Hi Guys sorry to jump in on an old Thread and all but I"m trying to get my head around this transdem and looking places to get the data.. before I read this post I found the Echo Reverb site.. and placed an order for 3 grid squares, got the email about the order being in placed..

So now I"m not even sure how I use the data but I think I'll nut it out eventually.

The more I read the manual the more my head gets turned around in on its self...

so if you could help out once I get the data I have ordered how do I get it into transdem from what I read after I placed the order the Gdem V2 format is not directly supported by transdem ?? I mean WTF.. why did I send all this time searching for something that is only useful in northern parts of of the world.. starting to wish I had not bought it now.. I've had my head inside the thing for 2 solid days done all the tutorials I can find in the help files.. have put a heaps un necessary routes into my trans.. (not biggy delete works a treat).

but I am not learning a thing if the info in the tutorials is not use without the dem data which I can't find.. and as I'm planning on modelling 250k's of track I"m not about to use the contour lines. and do them all as described in the manual..

anyways just ranting now LOL sorry .. but feel better to type it.. I'm still frustrated though..

any help I can get will be good..

G'day Targanon,

Firstly, you can do anything and everything in TransDEM WITHOUT the presence of any DEM data at all. DEM data is only 'essential' when the route is to be exported into Trainz and even then, without it, TransDEM will export a route that is otherwise completely flat (although a 'flat' DEM data file is required to export the route). As Roland has mentioned elsewhere, the best DEM data for a beginner to use is the 3 arcsec/90 meter SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) data, The following link...

http://dds.cr.usgs.gov/srtm/version2_1/SRTM3/Australia/

...will take you directly to the place to get any Australian data and you should use the File menu>File name info SRTM.hgt option in TransDEM (before linking to the NASA site) to determine the correct data sets needed for the area covered by your map tiles (you need the map tiles or route polyline 'open' for this option to be available). This data is free and is IMMEDIATELY downloadable (no need to wait) and can be loaded directly into TransDEM in the *.zip format that you download, without having to extract the data first. The difference between SRTM and the ASTER data is the resolution (and now, the wait needed to get it). I have found (as per my post above) that the ASTER data can be obtained directly from the LDPAAC site (more easily than through the Reverb|Echo site) but learn how to use TransDEM using the SRTM data before you switch...

Jerker {:)}

Oh Thanks so much I was starting tog et frustrated.. they look like what I was after..

now to go back to tut I saw to merge them

Again Thank you thank you .