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Discover the Beauty of Elevation

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About the map

Elevation data, like Digital Terrain Models, provides us with a foundational understanding of the world. Given that the highest point on Earth is 8,848m (Everest) and the lowest is 10,984m (Challenger Deep), even the most experienced cartographer would be hard-pressed to find a single rendering to suit every situation.

Discover the beauty of elevation with DTM Explorer, an app built with the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript that allows you to dynamically adjust the colour ramp and find the perfect elevation visualisation for anywhere on Earth.    

Why it works

Performance plays a key part in this app. DTM Explorer is purely focused on the rendering of imagery, meaning it can do that job very quickly – transforming static imagery into something with motion that can be interacted with.

Adjust the sliders and watch sea levels rise or water drain down from the hills. With a wide selection of colour ramps, blend modes, and global data, the possibilities for symbolising elevation data are well and truly endless.

Important Steps

  • 1.

    Prepare the data in ArcGIS Pro. Fill any holes and create a continuous elevation surface. This was only necessary for Scottish LiDAR data. Living Atlas data is ready to go.

  • 3.

    Create an ArcGIS Developers account for access to the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript.

  • 4.

    Build User Interface using components from the Calcite Design System. This is a useful collection of development and design resources that allows you to construct a sleek-looking UI with minimal effort.

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Requirements

  • Analysis

    Our goal was fast rendering, so we had to devise the highest performing build. It was possible to update the render each time the slider was moved. Automatic Dynamic Range Adjustment however was not feasible, so we used a button.

  • Time

    Two hours were spent preparing and hosting the imagery, and about two weeks planning, building, debugging, and refining the app.

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Tips and tricks

  • tip-1-dtboe

    Use a Group Layer

    If you have multiple layers of imagery that cover the same extent, make sure to put them in a Group Layer to allow them to blend with the basemap (and not each other!).

  • tip-2-dtboe

    Use Dynamic Imagery for Analysis

    Dynamic imagery allows you to access individual cell values, this is essential for performing dynamic range adjustment based on the cell values in the view. 

  • tip-3-dtboe

    Use Tiled Imagery for Performance

    Tiled imagery offers the fastest rendering times. Unlike dynamic imagery, this doesn’t give you access to raster cell values. 

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Links & Resources

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Matthew Akerman

Map Author

Matthew Akerman (he/him)

Matthew is a Junior GIS Developer in the Esri UK Research Team. He is passionate about technology, trains, and swimming.

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