Discrete Surface Modeling Based on Google Earth: A Case Study

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how to create a discrete surface model of terrain using Google Earth elevation data, interpolation techniques, and mesh generation, exemplified by a case study at Haut-Barr Castle.

Contribution

It presents a methodology for extracting terrain elevation data from Google Earth and constructing DSMs using interpolation, with a practical case study.

Findings

DSM accurately reflects ground features at Haut-Barr

Interpolation methods effectively generate terrain surfaces

Method can be applied to geological modeling tasks

Abstract

Google Earth (GE) has become a powerful tool for geological, geophysical and geographical modeling; yet GE can be accepted to acquire elevation data of terrain. In this paper, we present a real study case of building the discrete surface model (DSM) at Haut-Barr Castle in France based on the elevation data of terrain points extracted from GE using the COM API. We first locate the position of Haut-Barr Castle and determine the region of the study area, then extract elevation data of terrain at Haut-Barr, and thirdly create a planar triangular mesh that covers the study area and finally generate the desired DSM by calculating the elevation of vertices in the planar mesh via interpolating with Universal Kriging (UK) and Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW). The generated DSM can reflect the features of the ground surface at Haut-Barr well, and can be used for constructingthe Sealed Engineering Geological Model (SEGM) in further step.