GlobalMapperisaviewercapableofdisplayingthemostpopularGISraster,

elevaon,andvectordatasets,allowinguserstoeasilyview,editandexporttheir
datainmulpleformats.
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Page1
Global Mapper
Loading a DEM into Global Mapper
LoadaDigitalElevaonModel(DEM)
ViewtheDEMin3D
Createanelevaonprolegraph
ExporttheDEMtoa3DmeshforuseinAutoCAD
GeneratecontoursfromtheDEM
Exportthecontoursto.DWGor.SHPformats
WhenyourstopenGlobalMapper,itwilllooklike
Figure1.ClickontherstopontoOpenYourOwn
DataFiles.Inthelebrowserwindowthatpopsup,
navigatetotheDEMleyouwishtoopen.
Alternavely,inaseparateledirectorywindowyou
cannavigatetoyourDEMleandclickanddragit
intoGlobalMapper.TheDEMshouldloadasshownin
Figure2.Thelegendonthelesideshowstheeleva
oncolourramp.
Important:SengtheProjeconensuresproper
measurements
ClickonToolsthenCongureandensurethatthe
correctprojeconisset.Theprojeconusedshould
beUTMandcorrespondtothecorrectzone.To
determinetheappropriateUTMzone,gototheindex:
hp://www.library.carleton.ca/interacveindexes
anddoubleclickontheUTM_Index.kmlletoopen
inGoogleEarth.Thelast2digitsofeachindex
correspondstotheUTMzone.
Figure1:theopeningwindowofGlobalMapper
GlobalMappersupportsviewingofmanypopulardataformats,including:DEM,DGN,DXF,ECW,MrSID,
ESRIShapeles,E00,MapInfoMIF/MID,MapInfoTAB/MAP,SRTM,JPG,PNG,BIL,BSQ,BIPetc.
Figure2:aloadedDEMshowingtheCityofOawa
Control
Centre
Zoom
in/out
Measure
Pan Idenfy
Show3Dview
3DElevaonProle
Figure3:TheMainToolsontheToolbar
This help guide will show you how to:

Page2
GlobalMapper
Viewing the DEM in 3D
Whenviewingleswithanelevaoncomponent,suchas
DEMsorLiDAR,youcanclickontheShow3DView
buon(seeFigure3onpreviouspage).Thiswillopenan3D
Viewwindowwhereyoucanpan,zoom,androtatethe
viewusingthebyclickingonthetooliconsshownhere:
Figure6(below):theelevaonprolegraphshowingchanging
elevaonoverdistance.
Creating an Elevation Proile
AnelevaonprolegraphwillshowyoutheelevaoninacrossseconoftheDEM.,asshowninFigure6.To
start,clickonthe3DElevaonProlebuon(seegure3onpreviouspage).ThiswillpopupaTipbox,
towhichyoucanjustclickOKto.

Withthecursor,clicktodrawalineacrosstheDEMforwhichyouareinterestedinseeingtheelevaonpro
lefor(Figure5).Leclickingwillstopdrawingyourlineandtheelevaonpathprolewindowwillpopup.
Figure4(le):a3DviewofGaneauParkfromtheOawaDEM.
Exporting a DEM to a 3D .DXF Mesh for AutoCAD
A3DsurfacemodelforuseinAutoCADcanbecreatedbyexporngtheDEMintoaDXFmesh.Therststepisto
roughlyzoomintotheareayouareinterestedinexporng.Trynottotaketoomuchexcessarea,inordertospeedup
thedrawingprocessofthemesh.

Onceyourezoomedintoyourarea,clickonFilethenExportElevaon
gridFormat.ThiswillpopuptheSelect
ExportFormatwindow(Figure7).Fromthedropdownmenu,selectthe
DXF
meshleformat;thenclickOK.

Connuedonnextpage.. Figure7:theSelectExportFormatpopupwindow
Figure5:theelevaonprolecrossseconline

Page3
GlobalMapper
Next,aDXFMeshExportOponsboxwillappear(Figure8).Youcanchangethepa
rameterstowhateversuitsyourdataset,butremembertocheckONtheInterpolate
toFillinSmallGapsintheData.
Secondly,clickontheExportboundstab,thentheDrawaBoxbuontomorespe
cicallyselectyourareatoexportbydrawingaboxinthepopupwindow.Everything
insidethisboxwillbeexportedtoyourmesh.
OnceyoupressOk,alebrowserwindowwillpopup.Locateyouroutputfolderand
givethemeshanappropriatename.Theexporngwillbegin...thismaytakesomeme
dependingonthesizeofyourarea.
Exporting a DEM to a 3D .DXF Mesh for AutoCAD ...continued
Figure8(le):theDXFMeshExport
Opons(General)window.

Figure9(right):theDXFMesh
ExportOpons(ExportBounds)
window.
Onceyourmeshisdone
exporng,openitinAutoCAD
Map3D.

Whenitrstopens,youwill
onlyseeblackoragreygrid.
Clickonthe3Dbuonto
viewthemeshproperlyin3D,
asseeninFigure10.
Figure10(le):
The3Dmesh
surfaceshownin
AutoCADMap3D
Clickonthe3Dbuontoiniatethisview.

Page4
GlobalMapper
ContourscanbegeneratedeasilyinGlobalMapperbyclickingonFile,thenGenerate
Contours...ThiswillopentheContourGeneraonOponswindow,asshowninFigure
11.ThemainthingyouhavetolloutistheContourInterval;however,youcancus
tomizesomeoftheotheroponsasyouseet.Thesmallerthecontourintervals,the
longeritwilltaketogenerate.
Similarly,ifyouclickontheSimplicaontab,youwillseeaslider(Figure12).Tothe
lecreatessmoothercontours(i.e.lessangular),buttakesabitmoreme.
Toselecttheareayouwishtogeneratethecontoursfor,clickontheContourBounds
tabandselecttheDrawaBoxbuon.PressOKonceyouaredonetostartthecontour
generaon.
Generating Contours
Figure11:theContourOponswindow
Figure12:theSimplicaontab
Figure13:thenewly
createdcontours.
Toexporttheses
contoursasvectorsin
SHPorDWGformats,
selectfromthemenu
FilethenExportVector
Format