DEM from various data sources and geomorphic details enhancement

Abstract: We are demonstrating well-known high importance of the high quality digital elevation model (DEM) for detailed and more effective mapping. The first attempt was to develop a technique for integrating and improving existent DEMs to new one, and the second to visualise the Earth’s surface with enhancements of some geomorphic attributes of surface. We are introducing a special fusion and iterative technique that produces a high quality DEM from various datasets that simultaneously removes possible gross errors. The method bases on the weighted sum of data sources with geomorphic enhancement. The most techniques for the Earth’s surface presentation from DEMs hide some details that are product of worse chosen interpolation method or of some possible gross errors. Unfortunately, those methods necessarily hide some geomorphic details, too. We are demonstrating some untypical cartographical techniques for enhancement of geomorphic details like bipolar differentiation and enhancing of the edges that can be integrate into “classical ” techniques (analytical hill shading, contouring and hypsometrical visualisations) are. The proposed methods are also result of our efforts finding different visualisations for better understanding of the geomorphic characteristics of landform and to get impact into quality of DEMs regarding using different interpolation and production methods. Combination of proposed methods with classical ones can improve multi-scale effects for easier reading of the maps. BACKGROUN