Patent ID: 7778808

Claim:
A geospatial modeling system comprising: a geospatial database configured to store geospatial data points each having respective elevations associated therewith; and a processor configured to data thin the geospatial data points by selecting discriminant points therefrom, said processor selecting discriminant points based upon (a) identification of a current patch having a plurality of spaced-apart current geospatial data boundary points, (b) selection of a current discriminant point within the current patch based upon sequentially stepping through the geospatial data points therein to determine respective elevation differences relative to the current geospatial boundary points and comparing the elevation differences to a threshold range, (c) identification of a plurality of new patches, each having a plurality of spaced-apart new geospatial boundary points including the current discriminant point, and (d) an iterative repetition of steps (b) and (c) for each of the new patches until no further new discriminant point is selected.