This tool can be used to retrieve Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation models (DEMs) from the USGS SRTM FTP site. This requires an Internet connection. The user specifies the latitude and longitude of the bounding box for an area of interest. Coordinates must be specified in integer (whole number) values. The tool will download the SRTM tiles contained within the area of interest, imports the tiles by calling the Import SRTM tool, and can optionally fill missing data holes, which are common with SRTM data in rugged terrain, and finally, mosaic the tiles. Latitude values in the southern hemisphere are denoted as negative values and, similarly, longitude values in the western hemisphere are negative. If the option to mosaic the imported tiles is selected, an output file name must be specified.
The global SRTM 3-arcsecond (approximately 90 m resolution) dataset is supported. Within the United States of America, the higher resolution (~30 m) SRTM 1-arcsecond data can be retrieved. Please note that SRTM tiles are only available for 1-degree by 1-degree areas containing some portion of land.
The data are in geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude). It is likely that you will need to reproject the data to a UTM projection before carrying out any kind of spatial analysis. Any projection utility can be used to accomplish this task. In Whitebox GAT the current tool for reprojecting to UTM coordiates is the Coordinate System Transformation tool.
The following is an example of a Python script using this tool:
dataset = "3-arcsecond"
startingLat = "42"
endingLat = "45"
startingLon = "-81"
endingLon = "-77"
fillHoles = "true"
fixElevations = "true"
mosaicTiles = "true"
masaicName = pluginHost.getWorkingDirectory() + "output.dep"
args = [dataset, startingLat, endingLat, startingLon, endingLon, fillHoles, fixElevations, mosaicTiles, mosaicName]
pluginHost.runPlugin("RetrieveSRTMData", args, False)
This is a Groovy script also using this tool:
def dataset = "3-arcsecond"
def startingLat = "48"
def endingLat = "49"
def startingLon = "16"
def endingLon = "17"
def fillHoles = "true"
def fixElevations = "true"
def mosaicTiles = "false"
String[] args = [dataset, startingLat, endingLat, startingLon, endingLon, fillHoles, fixElevations, mosaicTiles]
pluginHost.runPlugin("RetrieveSRTMData", args, false)