Improving altitudinal accuracy of Sentinel-1 InSAR DEM in arid flat terrain: a machine learning approach with UAV photogrammetry and multi-source data

High-accuracy Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are critical for hydrological and ecological applications in low-relief arid basins, yet Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR)-derived DEMs suffer from significant altitudinal errors due to temporal decorrelation and phase unwrapping artifacts, particularly in flat terrains. To address these limitations, we developed a novel machine learning framework that synergizes Sentinel-1 InSAR, UAV photogrammetry, Sentinel-2 spectral indices, and ALOS topographic features to enhance DEM accuracy. The approach was validated in Northwest China’s Taitema Lake basin across 13 sample plots covering diverse arid surface types (dunes, wetlands, playas). Four algorithms – Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Polynomial Regression (PR) – were rigorously evaluated. Without topographic data, SVM achieved the highest accuracy (test-set R² = 0.8564). Integrating terrain features with RF further improved performance (R² = 0.8634, MAE = 1.0683 m), reducing errors from approximately [−10, 27] m to predominantly ±6 m. The RF-corrected DEM exhibited a 42.8% decrease in standard deviation (2.60 m → 1.49 m) and a substantial R² increase (16.4% → 89.1%). Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) interpretability analysis identified slope and near-infrared reflectance as dominant error-correction features. The corrected DEMs demonstrate enhanced terrain continuity, minimized elevation noise, and offer a scalable, efficient solution for InSAR post-processing in ecologically sensitive arid regions.