DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELLING
Chapter 1
Digital Terrain Modeling (DTM,DEM, DHM,DSM)
1.1 CONCEPTS
Reality:
Model: abstract representation of reality
Concept
Scaled downed representation of reality
Reality distorted for easy interpretation and analysis
Creating a DTM:
Terrain characteristics? Value? Parameters? Factors?
DTM allow modelling, analysis and visualization of phenomenon related
to the territory morphology (or to any other characteristics of the
territory different) from elevation.
EARTH SURFACE
EARTH SURFACE
Physical surface of the earth is not homogeneous and regular
Elevation varies from place to place
We need to model the elevation of the earth surface for various
applications such as
Surveying and mapping
Construction and development
Strategic planning
And many others
TERRAIN ELEVATION MODEL
Traditionally elevation of the terrain can be modelled in many ways:
Contouring
Spot height
Layer tinting
Hachuring
Rock drawing
Hybrid method/ combination method
Shading: the terrain is assumed to be illuminated by sunlight from
northwest corner at an azimuth of 315 degree and sun angle of 45
degree. 3D impression of terrain is perceived.
TERRAIN MODELLING/REPRESENTATION TECHNIQUE
Contouring
Contour map is the most important invention in history of mapping due to its
convenience and intuition to perceive.
How is contour formed?
What is contour?
How can contour depict the relief/undulations of ground/topography?
River, valley line, ridge line, saddle, hill and depression, flattened ground, steep
slope, gentle slope, cave, overhanging cliff ….
U shaped contour
V shaped contour
CONTOUR
CONTOUR LINES
SPOT HEIGHT
LAYER TINTS
HACHURES
• Are short strokes, thick at one end,
and thin at the other. The thick part
( may be rounded of ) of the stroke is
towards the higher ground.
• One of the oldest method of
depicting relief, popular on maps
made in 19th and early 20th century.
• Now a days, to depict very steep
features such as embankments and
cuttings on railways or roads.
• Not indicate absolute height, closely
set lines may obscure other details
and may take long time to draw.
HILLSHADE
Hillshade is a function to create an illuminated representation of the
surface to show the terrain and topography.
It does this by setting a position for a hypothetical light source
and calculating the illumination values of each location.
It can greatly enhance the visualization of a surface for analysis or
graphical display, and is a very common cartographic technique.
Azimuth
The azimuth is the angular direction of the sun, measured from north in
clockwise degrees from 0 to 360. An azimuth of 90 degrees is east. The
default azimuth is 315 degrees (NW).
Sun angle
The altitude is the slope or angle of the illumination source above the
horizon. The units are in degrees, from 0 (on the horizon) to 90
(overhead). The default is 45 degrees.
HILL SHADE
HILLSHADE…
Sun angle = 45 Azimuth = 45 Sun angle = 70 Azimuth = 70
DIGITAL WORLD
Era of computer/digital environment
Easy to store
Easy for retrieval
Advantageous to computation
Enhanced visualization
So gear up for digital terrain modelling
3D reconstruction from aerial photographs/ techniques of
photogrammetry/ stereomodel/
3D reconstruction from stereo-satellite images eg SPOT satellite
images, IKONOS satellite images
DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELLING
The process for the construction of DTM surface is called Digital
Terrain Modelling.
It is also a process of mathematical modelling.
In such a process, points are sampled from the terrain to be modeled
with a certain observation accuracy, density, and distribution; the
terrain surface is then represented by the set of sample points. If
attributes on locations on the digital surface other than the sample
points need to be obtained, interpolation is then applied by forming
a DTM surface from the sampled data points. Other attributes could
be the height value, slope and aspect, and so on.
DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELLING
Digital terrain representation techniques have been developed with
the development in computing technology, modern mathematics and
computer graphics. Computer have becomes the important means
for the representation of digital terrain surface.
Topo map is 2D representation of 3D reality: Done by cartographers
DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELLING
The digital terrain model (DTM) is simply a statistical representation of the
continuous surface of the ground by a large number of selected points with
known X, Y, Z coordinates in an arbitrary coordinate field.
A DTM is a digital representation of the spatial distribution of one or more
types of terrain information and is represented by 2-D locations plus a
mathematical representation of terrain information. It is commonly regarded
as a 2.5-D representation of the terrain information in 3-D geographical
space.
DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELLING
DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELLING
DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELLING
STAGES OF DTM PRODUCTION
FOUR MAJOR COMPONENTS OF DIGITAL
TERRAIN MODELLING
Data Acquisition:
In “data acquisition,” photogrammetry, surveying (including global positioning system
[GPS] surveying), remote sensing, and cartography (mainly digitization of contour maps)
are the main disciplines.
Computation and Modelling:
In “computation and modeling,” photogrammetry, surveying, cartography, geography,
computational geometry, computer graphics, and image processing are the main
disciplines.
Data Management and Manipulation:
In “data management and manipulation,” spatial database technique, data coding and
compression techniques, data structuring, and computer graphics, are the main
disciplines.
Applications:
In “applications,” all geosciences are involved, including surveying, photogrammetry,
cartography, remote sensing, geography, geomorphology, civil engineering, mining
engineering, geological engineering, landscape design, urban planning, environmental
management, resources management, facility management, and so on
ADVANTAGES OF DTM OVER TRADITIONAL ANALOG REPRESENTATION
A variety of representation forms: In digital form, various forms of
representations can be easily produced, such as topographic maps, cross
sections, and 3-D animation.
No accuracy loss of data over time: As time goes by, paper maps may be
deformed, but the DTM can keep its precision owing to the use of digital
medium.
Greater feasibility of automation and real-time processing: In digital form,
data integration and updating are more flexible than in analog form.
Easier multi-scale representation: DTM can be arranged in different
resolutions, corresponding to representations at different scale
DIFFERENT TERMS FOR DTM
DTM – digital terrain model
DEM – digital elevation model (USA)
DHM – digital height model (Germany)
DGM – digital ground model (UK)
DTEM-digital terrain elevation model (USGS)
Ground: “the solid surface of the earth”; “a solid base or foundation”; “a
surface of the earth”; “bottom of the sea”; etc.
Height: “measurement from base to top”; “elevation above the ground or
recognized level, especially that of the sea”; “distance upwards”; etc.
Elevation: “height above a given level, especially that of sea”; “height above
the horizon”; etc.
Terrain: “tract of country considered with regarded to its natural features,
etc.”; “an extent of ground, region, territory”; etc.
DTM , DEM, DSM
The meaning of terrain is more complex, it may contain the concept of height or
elevation and attempts to include geographical elements and natural features.
Therefore, the term DTM tends to have a wider meaning than DHM or DEM and
will attempt to incorporate specific terrain features such as rivers, ridge lines,
break lines, etc. into the model.
DTM contain following four groups of information:
Landforms, such as elevation, slope, slope form, and the other more complicated
geomorphological features that are used to depict the relief of the terrain.
Terrain features, such as hydrographic features (i.e., rivers, lakes, coast lines),
transportation networks (i.e., roads, railways, paths), settlements, boundaries, etc.
Natural resources and environments, such as soil, vegetation, geology, climate, etc.
Socioeconomic data, such as the population distribution in an area, industry and
agriculture and capital income, etc
DEM
DEM is a popular acronym
DEM is used in a generic sense for digital topographic and /or
bathymetric data in all its various digital forms, including mass points,
breaklines, TINs, Terrains, and DTMs.
Unless specifically referenced as a Digital Surface Model (DSM), the
generic DEM normally implies x/y coordinates and z-values
(elevations) of the bare-earth terrain, void of vegetation and
manmade features.
According to USGS: DEM is the digital cartographic representation of
the elevation of the land at regularly spaced intervals in x and y
directions, using z-values referenced to a common vertical datum.
Uses: flood , drainage modelling, landuse studies, geological
applications.
DTM
Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) are similar to DEMs in representing the
bare-earth terrain surface but they may also incorporate the
elevation of significant topographic features on the land and mass
points and breaklines that are irregularly spaced to better
characterize the true shape of the terrain itself.
The net result of DTMs is that the distinctive terrain features are
more clearly defined and precisely located and contours generated
from DTMs more closely approximate the real shape of the terrain.
DSM
Digital Surface Models (DSMs) are similar to DEMs or DTMs except
that they depict the elevations of the top surfaces of buildings, trees,
towers, and other features elevated above the bare earth.
DSMs are especially relevant for telecommunications management,
air safety, forest management, and 3-D modeling and simulations.
The elevation differences between the DSM and DTM are commonly
used to evaluate the height of vegetation.
Uses: landscape modelling, city modelling, visualization.
Airborne Laser Scanning Photogrammetry
TIN
A TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network) is a set of adjacent, non-
overlapping triangles computed from irregularly spaced mass points
with x/y coordinates and z-values.
The TIN’s vector data structure is based on irregularly-spaced
point, line, and polygon data interpreted as mass points and
breaklines and stores the topological relationship between
triangles and their adjacent neighbors.
TINs are excellent for calculation of slope, aspect, surface area and
length; volumetric and cut-fill analysis; generation of contours, and
interpolation of surface z-values.
The TIN model is preferable to a DEM when it is critical to preserve
the precise location of narrow or small surface features such as
ditches or stream centerlines, levees, isolated peaks or pits in the
data model.
DTM RASTER GRID VS REMOTE SENSING
RASTER IMAGE
Characteristics Image Grid
Unit Pixel Cell
Value Only positive integer Both positive and
Eg: 8 bit image negative integer and real
From 0 to 255 (floating
point/decimal)numbers.
APPLICATIONS OF DTM IN GEOSCIENCE
AND ENGINEERING
planning and design of civil, road, and mine engineering
3-D animation for military purposes, landscape design, and urban
planning
analysis of catchments and hydraulic simulation
analysis of visibility between objects on the terrain surface
terrain analysis and volume computation
geomorphological and soil erosion analysis
remote sensing image interpretation and processing
various types of geographical analysis
Subsidence studies
APPLICATIONS OF DTM
Use of DTM in highway engineering
To choose alignment
For cross section and profile model
Cut and fill calculation between sections
SWDTM program developed/profile/alignment/ cross sections/ cut and
fill
DTMs help in route planning and design and earthwork calculation.
Design of reservoirs
Reservoir volume and area are two major features. DTMs can be used to
replace traditional contour maps to assist in selecting a site for the dam
and estimating water volume.
APPLICATIONS OF DTM
DTM applications in RS and Mapping
DTMs have many applications in remote sensing and mapping, such as
topographic mapping (contours), thematic mapping, ortho-image generation
and image analysis, map revision, and so on.
Ortho-image generation
Differential rectification removes distortion caused by relief
displacement
Inputs for differential rectification is DTM, satellite images or
aerial photographs
Remote Sensing image analysis
APPLICATIONS OF DTM
DTM application in Soil Mapping in conjunction with stereo-
pairs(aerial photograph) or high resolution satellite images
Soil type is based on the position on the landscape (the relief).
Major landscapes would be mountains, valley, plateau, hill land etc.
Slope influences the soil formation, controlling soil erosion and water movement in the
soil along with the other soil forming factors and affecting the soil characteristics. To
delineate the soil boundary, slope is used as the physiographic variation.
Besides this, slope of the project area is used as the basic tool for the demarcation of
landform, land types and land units.
Soil mapping needs identification of a number of elements, which are of major
importance for soil survey. They are land type, drainage pattern and drainage condition,
vegetation, land use, slope and relief.
GIS based DEM, relief and hill shade map were produced for the visualization of virtual
3D terrain surface for delineating the land type units that is used for detailed soil
survey.
ACTIVITY
Further Readings:
1. Digital Terrain Modelling Principles and Methodology: Chapter 1
2. Basics of Geomatics: Chapter 9.8 Representation Method of the Earth’s Surface
3. Terrain Analysis : Principles and Application , Chapter 1 Digital Terrain Analysis
4. S.K. Duggal Vol 1, Chapter 9 Contouring
5. ITC DTM Notes
Assignment:
1. Write any five different applications of DTM in your home town or any
place of your interest.
2. Is TIN raster or Vector and is it 2.5D or 3D? Explain.
3. Prepare an imaginary map of your favorite place using the traditional
techniques to perceive height.
4. Assume that you are conducting a project and it requires a DTM
surface. Illustrate the steps to carry out the project with proper
validation.
