http://www.ersdac.or.jp/GDEM/E/4.htmlRelease of ASTER GDEM Version 2 (03 October, 2011)
The ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (ASTER GDEM) is a joint product developed and made available to the public by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) of Japan and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It is generated from data collected from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), a spaceborne earth observing optical instrument.
The ASTER GDEM is the only DEM that covers the entire land surface of the Earth at high resolution. Since the release of the Version 1 on June 29, 2009 (*1), the ASTER GDEM has been widely used by many users (*2) and it has greatly contributed to the global earth observing community.
http://www.ersdac.or.jp/GDEM/E/4.html