View source for SMS:Digital Elevation Maps


Digital Elevation Maps (DEMs) are regular structured grids of elevation  values. Since the data is structured, it can be read, stored, displayed and  utilized more efficiently than scattered datasets. These data sources are  becoming more prevalent and can be obtained for topographic regions of the  entire United States and several other area of the world from web sites such as  Terraserver.

Unfortunately, most DEMs available online do not include bathymetric portions  of the domain, which makes their use in SMS limited. New data bases are being  developed, but due to the dynamic nature of bathymetric information, the  feasibility of an extensive database is very slight.

It may be useful to convert scattered datasets into DEMs for faster  processing inside of SMS.