DTM/DSM, Contour lines

The DEPHOS Group team specializes in producing digital height products that are used by professionals such as engineers and urban planners. These are digital datasets that can be visualized and analyzed in CAD/GIS software.  

DTM (Digital Terrain Model) and DSM (Digital Surface Model) products are typically delivered as meshes composed of computerized grids, each cell has its own individual ‘height’ value assigned to it. When visualized in appropriate software, these meshes are rendered as three-dimensional surfaces that can be viewed from different angles and heights of individual cells on the mesh can be analyzed relative to their neighbors and slopes along the surfaces can be calculated.  

Contour Lines are a vector map product that has been interpreted from a DTM. These consist of continuous lines that track around the surface of the DTM at specific height intervals. When visualized within a CAD software that contains other vector data, positions of engineered features can be determined on a plan relative to the ‘real world’ heights denoted by the contour lines. A typical application of contour lines might be the design of drainage infrastructure for a site.