Digital elevation models (DEMs) are used recurrently to obtain geomorphological information with which interpretations are made regarding the tectonic evolution of a region. Most studies evaluating the accuracy of these DEMs focus on comparison with terrestrial GPS datapoints and other vertical and horizontal accuracy references. Nevertheless, few studies have used geomorphological analysis for DEM validation, and none have been carried out in Peru. This study seeks to evaluate the performance of free access DEMs with 1 arc-second (30 m) resolution: SRTM3, ASTER GDEM3, ALOS World 3D 30m (AW3D30), Copernicus DEM, and the 0.4 arcsecond (12 m) commercial DEM TanDEM-X. The analyses applied in the present study were channel profile analysis and hypsometry. These were applied in the region of the Moyobamba watershed, a tectonically active piggyback basin, on three different scales: the complet...

Digital elevation models (DEMs) are used recurrently to obtain geomorphological information with which interpretations are made regarding the tectonic evolution of a region. Most studies evaluating the accuracy of these DEMs focus on comparison with terrestrial GPS datapoints and other vertical and horizontal accuracy references. Nevertheless, few studies have used geomorphological analysis for DEM validation, and none have been carried out in Peru. This study seeks to evaluate the performance of free access DEMs with 1 arc-second (30 m) resolution: SRTM3, ASTER GDEM3, ALOS World 3D 30m (AW3D30), Copernicus DEM, and the 0.4 arcsecond (12 m) commercial DEM TanDEM-X. The analyses applied in the present study were channel profile analysis and hypsometry. These were applied in the region of the Moyobamba watershed, a tectonically active piggyback basin, on three different scales: the complet...