Terrain

Use the Terrain properties page to create a list of terrain data files that are available in this scenario for the specified central body.

Central Body. You can create a list of available terrain data files for one or more central bodies using the Central Body drop-down list. For example, in the same scenario, you can put terrain on the Moon to see how a rover on the Moon is obscured by lunar craters and terrain on the Earth to determine if your ground facility is obscured by mountains.

For each terrain file, the Terrain properties page displays:

• Location of the terrain file.
• Whether the terrain source is used in this scenario.
• Latitude and longitude values for the four corners of the image.

Use the Add button to import one or more terrain data files and the Remove and Remove All buttons to delete terrain data files from the scenario.

Using Terrain for Analysis

You can include terrain elevation data in the computation of:

• An azimuth-elevation mask. Go to the AzElMask page for either a facility or target and select Terrain Data.
• The position of a facility or target. Go to the Position page for either a facility or target and select Use terrain data.
• Altitude reference for an aircraft, facility, ship, or target. Go to the Position page or Route page for the appropriate object and select Terrain for Altitude Reference.
• Height Above Ground for a facility or target. Go to the Position page for the appropriate object and enter a height above ground value.
• Boundary wall for an area target or line target. Go to the 3D Graphics Attributes page for the appropriate object and select Terrain for the Upper Edge and Lower Edge of the Boundary Wall.

Using Terrain for Visualization

You can display the terrain data in the 3D Graphics window. To display the terrain data files:

1. Convert the terrain data files you want to display to pdtt files using either the Terrain Converter or the Terrain Region Converter.
2. Go to the Globe Manager and click Add Terrain/Imagery.

3. The Open Imagery/Terrain Data page lists all the images, including the converted terrain data files, that are available for display.

4. Select the terrain file to display in the 3D Graphics window and click OK.

Note: When displaying terrain in the 3D Graphics window, the edges of the terrain that are above the WGS84 ellipsoid have walls that drop down to the ellipsoid. The bottom of the walls may not exactly match the neighboring terrain or the ellipsoid, so you may see cracks in the central body surface.

Terrain Sources

You can import the following files into STK for visualization and analysis: