GEOMATIC

Mr. Víctor Pedro Salinas A.

APPLIED TECHNICAL ENGLISH TEACHER
MAP VISUALIZATION IN ARCGIS,
QGIS

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DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL

INTRODUCTION
A Digital Terrain Model (DTM) approximates a part or
the whole of the continuous terrain surface by a set of
discrete points with unique height values over 2D points.
Heights are in approximation vertical distances between
terrain points and some reference surface or geodetic
datum. Mostly arranged in terms of regular grids, the 2D
points are typically given as geodetic coordinates (latitude
and longitude), or planar coordinates. DTMs usually
assign a single unique height value to each 2D point, so
cannot describe vertical terrain features. DTMs are
therefore “2.5D” rather than truly 3D models of the
terrain. ENGLISH FOR
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DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL

DEFINITION

Digital Terrain Model. Digital description of the terrain

surface using a set of heights over 2D points residing on a
reference surface.

The concept of DTM is not only limited to Earth’s visible

terrain surface. It also finds application in bathymetry
(digital bathymetry models describing the geometry of the
sea floor), polar geodesy, and planetary sciences, among
many other areas of application.

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 DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL

REPRESENTATIONS
Common mathematical representations for DTMs include regularly
spaced grids, irregularly distributed 2D points, 1D-profiles,
contours, and Fourier series. Triangulations of irregularly
distributed 2D points, known as Triangulated Irregular Networks
(TIN) allow incorporation of terrain break lines (ridges, valleys),
and extreme locations to better represent the terrain, but are more
complex to handle than gridded DTMs. Gridded DTMs are derived
from TINs through computation of height values at 2D raster
locations using some interpolation technique. With increasing
spatial resolution, gridded DTMs tend to approximate break lines
and extreme locations better, while containing more redundant
information in flat terrain. ENGLISH FOR
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DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL

SOURCES OF DTM DATA

From a range of sources relying on ground-based,

airborne, and spaceborne surveying techniques, DTM
data is available for parts and the whole of the
Earth’s surface at different spatial resolution.

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DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL

APPLICATIONS

Terrain models play a fundamental role in

geosciences and engineering and have numerous
applications. They can be used to calculate derived
quantities, such as volumes, slope, curvature, sun
exposure, hill shade, contours, visibility from given
sites, drainage, and gravitational attraction.

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 DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL

DOWNLOAD DIGITAL TERRAIN

DATA
1. Go to link: http://www.webgis.com
2. Digital Terrain data is all we need. You can explore the links given.
We will download from SRTM. You can read the documentation for
information. Click on SRTM 3.
3. Click on large map. Digital Terrain Data create contour map
4. Here you can determine the coordinates of the tile in which your
location is lying. You must know where your location is on earth i.e.
North East or North West etc. As you determine the coordinates of tile,
go to previous page and Click on the map where your location is.
5. Now click the tile from the index you determined from the large map.
It will automatically be downloaded to your computer after clicking
the link.

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 DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL

EXTRACT DEM AND CREATE

CONTOUR MAP
Contour map shows contour lines with relative space indicating the
relative slope of the surface. Here we will open DEM in QGIS and create
the contour Map. Here are the steps:
1. After opening QGIS, we first need to extract the downloaded file, and
import the .hgt file using add raster layer tool in QGIS, where you will
see a singleband gray image as shown below.
2. Go to layer properties and click style. Notice the minimum and
maximum value. These values are in meters.
3. In render type dropdown select singleband pseudocolor and click
classify.
4. Click apply and ok. Digital Terrain Data create contour map
5. Now we will extract contours from this image. Go to Raster->
Extraction-> Contour as shown.
6. Set the pop up as shown below. ENGLISH FOR
7. Click ok. The contour file is loaded into your canvas. CIVIL WORK
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HOW TO AUTOMATICALLY GENERATE A

DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM)
1. On the Menu bar, click Process > Processing Options.
2. Select the processing step 3. DSM, Orthomosaic and Index.
3. Select the tab DSM and Orthomosaic.
4. In the section Raster DSM, make sure that the option GeoTIFF and
Merge Tiles are selected.
5. Select the tab Additional Outputs.
6. In the section Raster DTM, select the GeoTIFF output file format to
generate the DTM.
7. (optional) Select Merge Tiles, to merge the individual tiles and
generate the DTM in one file.
8. In the Raster DTM Resolution section, select the resolution of the
output file.
9. Click OK.
10. Process step 3. DSM, Orthomosaic and Index.
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SUMMARY
DTMs, conceptionally introduced more than half a century ago, are today
in wide use in geodesy and beyond to approximate the Earth’s relief for a
broad range of applications.

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DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
WHAT IS DTM USED FOR?
While a digital surface model (DSM) may
be useful for landscape modeling, city
modeling and visualization applications, a
digital terrain model (DTM) is often
required for flood or drainage modeling,
land-use studies, geological applications,
and other applications, and in planetary
science.
WHAT ARE DEM FILES?
DEMs are files that contain either points
(vector) or pixels (raster), with each
point or pixel having an elevation value.
They come in a variety of file formats,
from . DEMs: digital elevation models
represent the land or "bare earth" (no
WHAT IS DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL trees, buildings, etc.)
IN GIS?
A digital terrain model (DTM) can be
described as a three – dimensional
representation of a terrain surface
consisting of X, Y, Z coordinates stored in
digital form. It includes not only heights
and elevations but other geographical
elements and natural features such as
rivers, ridge lines, etc.
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 THANK YOU

Mr. Víctor Pedro Salinas

English Teacher