Digital Elevation Model

The contour lines are used to make a set of points each of which has an elevation value attached to it. Next, GIS software creates a regular matrix which "fills in" missing areas with interpolated elevation values. The resulting matrix is called a digital elevation model (DEM). This process was repeated as "holes" were filled with additional contour information and new point sets were generated.

The entire Wyoming Valley matrix is composed of over nine million, ten meter square (horizontal) cells. This is the best resolution we could achieve given the input data and software/hardware limitations. [Back to pictorial guide main page]

Contours

DEM

Hillshade

Shaded DEM

Shaded DRG

TIN