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This chapter’s lab will introduce you to some of the basics of digital terrain
modeling—working with DEMs, contours, and draped imagery over the terrain model. You’ll be using Google Earth and the MICRODEM software program (developed by Professor Peter Guth of the Oceanography Department of
the U.S. Naval Academy) for this lab.
Objectives
The goals of this lab are:
a Examining pseudo-3D terrain and navigating across it in Google Earth.
a Filming an animation of flying over 3D terrain in Google Earth.
a Examining the effects of different levels of vertical exaggeration on the terrain.
a Familiarizing yourself with the MICRODEM operating environment.
a Draping an image over the terrain in Google Earth.
a Deriving hillshades, contours, and slope measurements from a DEM for
terrain analysis.
a Examining a DEM in both 2D and perspective view.
a Using a DEM to create a flight path for a video in MICRODEM.
Obtaining Software
a The current version of Google Earth (6.0) is available for free download
at http://earth.google.com.
a The current version of MICRODEM (12) is available for free download
at http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/microdem/
microdem.htm.
Important note: Software and online resources sometimes change fast.
This lab was designed with the most recently available version of the software
at the time of writing. However, if the software or Websites have significantly
changed between then and now, an updated version of this lab (using the newest versions) is available online at http://www.whfreeman.com/shellito1e.
Lab Data
All data used in this lab is either part of the software or comes included as
sample data as part of the software installation.
Localizing This Lab
The Google Earth sections of this lab can be performed using areas nearby
your location, as this lab features underlying terrain that covers the globe.
13.1 Geospatial Lab Application
Digital Terrain Analysis
This chapter’s lab will introduce you to some of the basics of digital terrain
modeling—working with DEMs, contours, and draped imagery over the terrain model. You’ll be using Google Earth and the MICRODEM software program (developed by Professor Peter Guth of the Oceanography Department of
the U.S. Naval Academy) for this lab.
Objectives
The goals of this lab are:
a Examining pseudo-3D terrain and navigating across it in Google Earth.
a Filming an animation of flying over 3D terrain in Google Earth.
a Examining the effects of different levels of vertical exaggeration on the terrain.
a Familiarizing yourself with the MICRODEM operating environment.
a Draping an image over the terrain in Google Earth.
a Deriving hillshades, contours, and slope measurements from a DEM for
terrain analysis.
a Examining a DEM in both 2D and perspective view.
a Using a DEM to create a flight path for a video in MICRODEM.
Obtaining Software
a The current version of Google Earth (6.0) is available for free download
at http://earth.google.com.
a The current version of MICRODEM (12) is available for free download
at http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/microdem/
microdem.htm.
Important note: Software and online resources sometimes change fast.
This lab was designed with the most recently available version of the software
at the time of writing. However, if the software or Websites have significantly
changed between then and now, an updated version of this lab (using the newest versions) is available online at http://www.whfreeman.com/shellito1e.
Lab Data
All data used in this lab is either part of the software or comes included as
sample data as part of the software installation.
Localizing This Lab
The Google Earth sections of this lab can be performed using areas nearby
your location, as this lab features underlying terrain that covers the globe.
13.1 Geospatial Lab Application
Digital Terrain Analysis