Analyzing sampled terrain volumetrically with regard to error and geologic variation

Most terrain models are created based on a sampling of real-world terrain, and are represented using linearly-interpolated surfaces such as triangulated irregular networks or digital elevation models. The existing methods for the creation of such models and representations of real-world terrain lack a crucial analytical consideration of factors such as the errors introduced during sampling and geological variations between sample points. We present a volumetric representation of real-world terrain in which the volume encapsulates both sampling errors and geological variations and dynamically changes size based on such errors and variations. We define this volume using a hierarchical voxel grid, and demonstrate that when used within simplification and line-ofsight applications, the generated simplified model or calculated visibility information is guaranteed to be within a user-defined confidence level of the real-world terrain. CR