History#

Below, some more information on the history behind the package.

Creation#

xDEM was created during the GlacioHack hackathon, that was initiated by Amaury Dehecq1 and took place online on November 8, 2020.

The initial core development of xDEM was performed by members of the Glaciology group of the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW) at ETH Zürich2, with contributions by members of the University of Oslo, the University of Washington, and University Grenoble Alpes.

Joining effort with demcompare#

In 2024, xDEM and demcompare joined efforts in the perspective of merging the best of both packages into one, and to jointly continue the development of new features for analyzing elevation data with a larger expertise pool.

demcompare is a tool developed by the CNES (French Space Agency) to support its 3D satellite missions in analyzing elevation data, for instance from stereophotogrammetric DEMs that can be generated with CARS.

Current team#

The current lead development team includes researchers in Earth observation and engineers from CNES (French Space Agency). We specialize in elevation data analysis, for application in Earth science or for operational use for 3D satellite missions3.

Other volunteer contributors span diverse scientific backgrounds in industry or research. We welcome any new contributors! See how to contribute on the dedicated page of our repository.