Patent ID: 8249346
Filing Date: 2012-08-21
Classification: G01C,G06T,G09B

Abstract:
1. A method of visualizing a three-dimensional image formed from rasterized elevation data comprising: inputting a series of pixels comprising elevation values to form an image; the image comprising rough areas and smooth areas; a rough area being where there are large differences between elevation values of neighboring pixels or varying differences in elevation values; a smooth area being where elevation differences are relatively small and approximate a smooth surface; comparing each pixel in the series of pixels to the neighboring pixels within a neighborhood of at least 3 pixels by 3 pixels; categorizing pixels as being either in rough or smooth areas depending upon differences in between elevation values of neighboring pixels; determining a pixel to be in a smooth area if the elevation values in a neighborhood of the pixel are approximately planar and the resulting plane is in the range of approximately 0 to 63 degrees from the horizontal; categorizing a pixel to be in a rough area if it does not meet the criteria for a smooth-area pixel; depicting pixels in the rough areas with a discrete marker at the corresponding elevation; depicting pixels in the smooth areas by constructing a continuous surface that passes through or very near the corresponding elevation values, and displaying the modified series of pixels, wherein, at least some of these steps are implemented on a computational device.