7.5-minute DEM (30- by 30-m data spacing, cast on Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection). Provides coverage in 7.5- by 7.5-minute blocks. Each product provides the same coverage as a standard USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle without over edge.
Level 1 DEM: Level 1 DEM's are acquired photogrammetrically by manual profiling or image correlation techniques from National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP) or equivalent source photographs. Level 1 30-minute DEM's may be derived or resampled from level 1 7.5- minute DEM's.
Level 2 DEM: Level 2 DEM's are produced by converting 1:24,000-scale and 1:100,000-scale hypsography digital line graph (DLG) data to DEM format or the DEM's are generated from vector data derived from scanned raster files of USGS 1:24.000-scale or 1:100,000-scale map series contour separates.
Level 3 DEM: Level 3 DEM's are created from DLG data that has been vertically integrated with all categories of hypsography, hydrography, ridge line, break line, drain files and all vertical and horizontal control networks. The production of level 3 DEMs requires a system of logic incorporated into the software interpolation algorithms that clearly differentiates and correctly interpolates between the various types of terrain, data densities and data distribution.
Water body editing: DEM surface areas corresponding to water bodies are flattened and assigned map specified or estimated surface elevations. Water body areas are defined as ponds, lakes, and reservoirs that exceed 0.5 inches at map scale and double line drainage that exceeds 0.25 inches at map scale. Water body shorelines are derived either from a hypsographic DLG or by interactive delineation from 1:24,000- scale or 1:100,000-scale USGS map series.
Edge matching: DEM datasets within a project area (consisting of a number of adjacent files) are edge matched to assure terrain surface continuity between files. Edge matching is the process of correcting adjacent elevation values along common edges. The objective of edge matching is to create more accurate terrain representations by correcting the alignment of ridges and drains, and overall topographic shaping within an approximately 25-30 row or column grid post zone on both edges.
Quality control: DEM's are viewed on interactive editing systems to identify and correct blunder and systematic errors. DEM's are verified for physical format and logical consistency at the production centers and before archiving in the National Digital Cartographic Data Base (NDCDB) utilizing the Digital Elevation Model Verification System (DVS) software.
A hypertext extract is available at: URL: <http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/glis/hyper/guide/usgs_dem>
Softcopies in ASCII and WordPerfect format are available at: URL: <ftp://mapping.usgs.gov/pub/ti/DEM/>
U.S.Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 1992, Standards for digital elevation models: Reston, VA,
Softcopies in ASCII and WordPerfect format are available at: URL: <ftp://mapping.usgs.gov/pub/ti/DEM/>