Terrain synthesis based on microscopic terrain feature

Abstract

In this paper, we use real terrain elevation data and the microscopic terrain feature unit to synthesize the macroscopic terrain flexibly and effectively. An interactive system provides users a convenient and intuitive interface to profile microscopic terrain features using terrain primitives. A number of terrain primitives, geometric objects such as prism-like, tetrahedron-like, and cone-like objects regarded as the concept representation object of microscopic terrain features, can be transformed to construct the terrain profile. Then, these terrain primitives are replaced by matching terrain units searched from real terrain elevation database to seamlessly synthesize the macroscopic terrain, the landform. As experimental results show, the resultant efficient synthesized terrains are realistic, fitting user's intuition. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.