Research purposes:The SRTM DEM and ASTER GDEM data have the advantages of the global scope,free access and high precision. The data were appliied in building railways in mountain area with complex geological condition to evaluate the data accuracy and study the topographic feature for assisting the railway alignment.
Research conclusions:As the SRTM DEM and ASTER GDEM data have its own system error,the measures,such as the digital elevation accuracy evaluation,DEM fusion,elevation datum offset and DEM re - sampling,should be taken for improving the DEM accuracy and building a large range,high accuracy and visual digital topographic feature model to assist the analysis of the structural topographic feature,the geological condition of karst hydrology and the development regulation of geological disaster in order to enhance the quality and efficiency of railway alignment.