CAPIR/DEM - A Collection System for Geographically Based Digital Elevation Data,

Digital grid-point elevation models are a widely distributed and applied source of digital topographic data. DEMs are commonly used to generate planimetric contour, slope, or aspect maps and are often merged with other sources of data for sophisticated modeling and systems applications. DEMs cover either large land areas at a course resolution or very limited sites at high resolution. Emerging technology in such diverse areas as robotics, computer image generation, and computer simulation will require timely, cost effective custom DEM data. This paper details a system designed to meet these impending future requirements for DEM Digital Elevation Models. A collection system for DEMs using an adaptive spacing grid is used to optimize resources when collecting DEMs in areas that have wide variations in relief. Future enhancements are proposed to provide adjustments between data collected during separate sessions and to densify existing DEM data to a higher resolution. Keywords CAPIRComputer Assisted Photointerpretation Research.