Using DEMs as map-designing tools.

[MKSheppard]

In 2000 NASA flew the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM); which provided elevation data accurate to 3" for the entire world; which means the entire world has been mapped with an accuracy of 90 meters.

Link to FTP where you can obtain the data (ftp://e0srp01u.ecs.nasa.gov/)

Using this data and MicroDEM; I generated an elevation map for a Japanese Island off Kyushu, Koshimi (sp?) that was to be seized four days before Operation OLYMPIC by the 40th Division and 158th RCT.

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/1223/invasion20rh.gif

With contour lines generated at 50 meter height intervals.

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/5051/invasion2qu.gif
Close up of a possible invasion beach; each shade represents 10 meters of height or about 1 hill size in SPCAMO's engine.

So with this, you can generate any sort of map you want.

Next example will be a contour map of Prokhrovokoa.

[Achilles]

Thank you :)

I will check it ASAP (it looks great!! :cheeky: )

cheers,
Pyros

[MKSheppard]

You got to keep in mind that this is a very non-user friendly program, I'm still trying to figure out how to do it.

[MKSheppard]

Got a topo of Prokorovka

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/5766/prok8wl.gif

You can see just how flat and rolling the terrain there is; it takes about 2 kilometers for the terrain to rise 40 meters.

[Achilles]

You got to keep in mind that this is a very non-user friendly program, I'm still trying to figure out how to do it.

Thanks, I will test tonight.

Btw, is the tutorial of any help?

Also, where do you find the GIS database?

cheers,
Pyros

[MKSheppard]

Also, where do you find the GIS database?


ftp://e0srp01u.ecs.nasa.gov/

Go to

/version2

then

/SRTM3

Pick whichever continent you want

You need to know the lat/long of where you want, becuase the data is arranged by lat long.

For example:

Prokrovokoa is around

51.0227778 LAT
36.5533333 LONG

So

We scroll down the Eurasia folder until we find the sequences of stuff beginning with:

N51

Then start looking for the E36 sequence.

Aha!

N51E036.hgt.zip

[Achilles]

Thanks again,

I am currently reading the guide & help files, and these files are very helpful!

This is a great tool!

cheers,
Pyros

[Achilles]

I already found a good use for this map.:laugh:

http://www.xtreme-gamer.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15565&stc=1&d=1143755551

[MKSheppard]

I already found a good use for this map.:laugh:

What's that? :confused:

[Achilles]

What's that? :confused:

This is a completely flat map near El Alamein (Africa).

Thanks to this display filter, I managed to make visible the 10 meters elevation curves.

In this 14 km x 10 km desert map

Purple is -10 meters,
Cyan is above -10 and below 0 meters,
Blue is 0 meters,
Green is above 0 and below 10 meters,
Yellow is 10 meters,
Red is 20 meters,

cheers,:smoke:

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/413681-mustang1.JPG
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/uploads/415253-MustangTOPO.JPG

[Achilles]

In order to use MICRODEM, you should know the Latitude & Longitude of the map region.

This can be done visually by the use of Google_earth or by searching within earthsearch database.

http://www.earthsearch.net/intSearch.php

[MKSheppard]

http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/8838/antietamsample4rr.gif

Antietam National Battlefield; the map I have is a LOT bigger, but I downsampled it to 1000 pixels to prevent your screens from breaking.

[Mustang19]

Nice! Do the maps come with labels or did you fill them in yourself?

I downloaded a map at this site, but it's in .HGF format. How do you open an HGF file? I've tried unzipping it and opening it in Paint, but it dosen't work.

[Achilles]

Nice! Do the maps come with labels or did you fill them in yourself?

I downloaded a map at this site, but it's in .HGF format. How do you open an HGF file? I've tried unzipping it and opening it in Paint, but it dosen't work.

Mustang you may DL the freeware utility microdem from here:

http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/microdem/win32/microdem_setup.exe

cheers,

[MKSheppard]

Nice! Do the maps come with labels or did you fill them in yourself?

The labels with the little man labeled "BATTLEFIELD" and "NATIONAL CEMETERY" are put in by myself; I found the latitude and longitude of those and put them into a file, to help me find the battlefield on the zoomed out wide scale topo map.

http://img304.imageshack.us/img304/532/zoomout2zu.gif

One in far left is Antietam, the one at top is Gettysburg.

To provide the roads and streams and labels of the streets, etc I had to download and overlay TIGER GIS data; which IIRC is only freely available for the US.

[Mustang19]

Mustang you may DL the freeware utility microdem from here:

http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/microdem/win32/microdem_setup.exe

cheers,

I'm going to try and download that tonight or tommorrow night, but it's too bad that there aren't enough dialup-friendly utilities on the web. I'm surprised that it's 40 MB just to view HGF files.

[TDR]

As a small point would it be a good/great idea to have this thread MOVED to the WinSP University ??