Terrain modelling in surveying and civil engineering

This paper is a review of the application of terrain modelling to surveying and civil engineering. The first section considers the theoretical background to the subject and two distinct approaches are identified based on the use of either grid or randomly located height data. The relative merits of each are discussed and the most frequently used algorithms for interpolation and contouring are examined. This is followed by a review of the characteristics of a selected number of terrain modelling and contouring packages. Five distinct groups of packages are identified. Finally, a review of applications is presented together with some views on the future trends in this field.