Digital Representations of Topography: Attempting to Characterize the Earth's Surface

摘要

Topography is often considered the fundamental scientific data set. Corrections to gravity surveys, environmental modeling, and siting infrastructure for cellular communications systems are all influenced by our knowledge of terrain. The first major digital topographic data set of the USA was produced to shape industrial molds for plastic relief maps to help pilots visualize terrain. Since then our ability to represent global topography has been constrained and stylized by the design, creation, and dissemination of topographic data sets.