Benefits of using terrain datasets

Terrain datasets and related tools offer benefits in the areas of data management, analysis, and visualization.

These are some of the primary benefits of terrain datasets:

• The ability to store and manage vector-based terrain information in the geodatabase.
• Scalable and seamless. Collections can reach into the billions of points.
• Terrain pyramids enable appropriate subsets, based on area of interest and accuracy requirements, to be retrieved quickly through optimized database queries. Pyramids offer a form of scale-dependent generalization that is based on known vertical or horizontal resolution.
• The ability to be modified over time.
• Edits are local and do not require rebuilding the entire model.
• In ArcSDE, terrains can be versioned. As with other data types, versioning offers a powerful approach for editing data and deriving what-if scenarios in multiuser environments.
• When using ArcSDE, terrain datasets enable centralized management and multiuser access to large data collections.
• A capable platform for raster digital elevation model (DEM) production.
• High-quality interpolation designed to handle a wide variety of input data types.
• Data thinning tools to eliminate irrelevant or redundant samples.
• Terrain layer for interactive display and query of the terrain surface. The layer's surface representation updates itself automatically as you pan and zoom around the display. TINs are built on the fly based on measurements and level of detail (LOD) information stored in the geodatabase.
• Supported geometry
  • Points
  • Multipoints
  • Lines
  • Polygons
• Supported data types
  • Stereo-captured photogrammetric features
  • Bare earth lidar
  • First/All return lidar
  • Sonar
  • Bathymetry data