Patent ID: 8265542

Claim:
A method of detecting, recording, processing and simultaneously displaying mobile object data representing a completed trip of a mobile object and corresponding terrain data, which method comprises the steps of: gathering with a microprocessor trip data including navigation and geospatial information captured by said microprocessor; providing said microprocessor with a computer readable media and storing said navigation and geospatial information on said microprocessor computer readable media; computing a 3-D recreation of a travel path of the mobile object based on said navigational and flight information; computing a digital terrain model for an area of the Earth's surface including at least a portion of the travel path; generating a 3-D display of said 3-D recreation including: said terrain model; a representation of the mobile object superimposed on the terrain model; and a representation of the travel path superimposed on the terrain model; computing altitude readings from said navigational and geospatial information at pre-defined intervals along the travel path; using said altitude readings and said navigational and geospatial information to compute a 3-D display comprising a vertical synthetic altitude wall extending downwardly from said travel path data ribbon to a ground level on said terrain model; subdividing said altitude wall graphically into a vertically-oriented checkerboard configuration comprising multiple rectangular segments separated by multiple, horizontally-spaced vertical striations each representing a pre-defined horizontal distance and multiple, vertically-stacked horizontal striations each representing a pre-defined vertical distance, said pre-defined vertical and horizontal distances corresponding to altitude and distance of travel along said travel path respectively; dynamically displaying in 3-D on said display device said altitude wall including said vertical and horizontal striations below said travel path representation; dynamically displaying in 3-D on said display device with said graphics software engine the progress along said travel path of the mobile object on top of said altitude wall and over said terrain model; and dynamically displaying mobile object altitudes at respective rectangular segments along said travel path.