Unusual Displays of DEMs

Three procedures for producing new ways to visualize landforms as maps or images derived from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are given. One procedure is used to create a highly detailed circular gray scale image from an azimuthal distribution. A second procedure utilizes the principles associated with x-ray tomography for the construction of a volumetric map from DEM cross-sectional ‘slices’. The conversion of a DEM to a Digital Distance Model (DDM) comprises the third procedure, to provide ‘side-looking’ views of the DEM in a variety of map formats including stereograms. DEMs generated from Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter (MOLA) data were used to produce illustrations utilizing the three procedures