Water body detection from TanDEM-X data: Concept and first evaluation of an accurate water indication mask

Additionally to the main product of the TanDEM-X mission - the global Digital Elevation Model (DEM) - a global water body mask will be produced. The main goal of this water mask is to deliver an information layer to support a subsequent DEM editing process. It is derived from the SAR amplitude and the single pass coherence. In this paper, the concept of the global water body detection is explained and a first evaluation of the single coverage water body detection is presented.