Vertical accuracy of ASTER, SRTM, and NASADEM Digital Surface Models across Malawi's diverse topography

This dataset contains ground control points and corresponding elevation data used to evaluate the vertical accuracy of three widely used Digital Surface Models (DSMs): ASTER GDEM, SRTM, and NASADEM across Malawi’s diverse topographic regions. The dataset includes observed reference elevations and extracted elevation values from each DSM at identical geographic locations. It further incorporates terrain characteristics (slope, aspect, curvature), regional classification, and land cover information to support a comprehensive analysis of how topography and land surface conditions influence vertical accuracy. The study area spans multiple physiographic regions in Malawi, including low-lying areas (e.g., Lower Shire Valley) and higher elevation zones (e.g., Lake Shore, Middle and Upper Shire regions), enabling comparative assessment across heterogeneous landscapes. This dataset supports analyses such as: Vertical error computation (e.g., RMSE, MAE, bias) DSM performance comparison under varying terrain conditions Influence of slope, aspect, and curvature on elevation accuracy Land cover effects on DSM accuracy Data Structure Each row represents a ground validation point with the following attributes: OBJECTID_1: Unique identifier NAME: Survey point/station name Lat, Long: Geographic coordinates (WGS84) Reference Elevation: Ground-truth elevation (m) ASTER Elevation / Slope / Aspect: Values derived from ASTER DSM SRTM Elevation / Slope / Aspect: Values derived from SRTM DSM NASADEM Elevation / Slope / Aspect: Values derived from NASADEM DSM Curvature: Terrain curvature at the point location Region: Physiographic region classification LandCover2001 / LandCover2010: Land cover categories for two time periods Spatial Coverage Country: Malawi Data Format File format: Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) Structure: Tabular dataset