Novel Representations of Elevation Data

Andrews space proposes two pronged approach to reduce the size of elevation data files that need to be stored and transmitted. The first approach is a better compression algorithm that works well on discontinuous data although is less effective on smooth data. This is the opposite of traditional compression methods, which are not effective at compressing discontinuous data such as the elevation in urban terrain. This should provide high fidelity urban elevation data with a minimum file size. The second approach is an innovative way to transmit the data that will reduce by many orders of magnitude the amount of data that needs to be transmitted to and stored by a soldier or vehicle in the field. By synergy of currently available off-the-shelf components we can create an innovative system that allows transmission of the required data sets at download speeds that are well within current capabilities.