A method of creating a three-dimensional rendered image of a terrain surface on an imaging display of an airborne aircraft radar system, the method comprising the steps of: scanning the terrain surface with a radar beam transmitted from the radar system so as to illuminate areas of the terrain surface; receiving a radar return signal from each illuminated area, the return signal having data indicative of the azimuth, elevation, and range of each illuminated area; processing the data in the return signal so as to transform the return signal data into a Cartesian coordinate system with X, Y, and Z coordinates; triangulating the X and Y coordinates corresponding to each illuminated area so as to create a mesh of triangles representing the terrain surface, each of the triangles in the mesh being defined by a vertex triplet; adding 3D imaging information, selected from the group consisting of at least one of grey scale shading information and coloring information, to each triangle in the mesh, based on the amplitude of the radar return signal from the coordinates represented by each vertex in the triplet and the value of the Z coordinate at each vertex in the triplet, the step of adding 3D imaging information further includes the steps of (a) blending the coordinate values assigned to the vertices defining each triangle, (b) providing intensity values indicative of the amplitude of the return radar signal, (c) assigning intensity values to each of the vertices defining each triangle, and (d) providing a grey-scale or color variation within each triangle that is determined by the intensity value assigned to each of the vertices of each triangle; weighting the 3D imaging information for each triangle based on a distance from a desired perspective point; rendering a 3D rendered image of the terrain surface from a desired perspective using the mesh of triangles and the 3D imaging information; and displaying the 3D rendered image on the imaging display by coloring or shading each triangle based on parameters selected from the group consisting of at least one of height and range, adjusting a display intensity within each triangle, and presenting an image from a predefined reference position. scanning the terrain surface with a radar beam transmitted from the radar system so as to illuminate areas of the terrain surface; receiving a radar return signal from each illuminated area, the return signal having data indicative of the azimuth, elevation, and range of each illuminated area; processing the data in the return signal so as to transform the return signal data into a Cartesian coordinate system with X, Y, and Z coordinates; triangulating the X and Y coordinates corresponding to each illuminated area so as to create a mesh of triangles representing the terrain surface, each of the triangles in the mesh being defined by a vertex triplet; adding 3D imaging information, selected from the group consisting of at least one of grey scale shading information and coloring information, to each triangle in the mesh, based on the amplitude of the radar return signal from the coordinates represented by each vertex in the triplet and the value of the Z coordinate at each vertex in the triplet, the step of adding 3D imaging information further includes the steps of (a) blending the coordinate values assigned to the vertices defining each triangle, (b) providing intensity values indicative of the amplitude of the return radar signal, (c) assigning intensity values to each of the vertices defining each triangle, and (d) providing a grey-scale or color variation within each triangle that is determined by the intensity value assigned to each of the vertices of each triangle; weighting the 3D imaging information for each triangle based on a distance from a desired perspective point; rendering a 3D rendered image of the terrain surface from a desired perspective using the mesh of triangles and the 3D imaging information; and displaying the 3D rendered image on the imaging display by coloring or shading each triangle based on parameters selected from the group consisting of at least one of height and range, adjusting a display intensity within each triangle, and presenting an image from a predefined reference position.