DEFINITION OF CONTOUR LINES INTERPOLATION OPTIMAL METHODS FOR E-GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS

Abstract. Citizens expect high quality and rich e-Government solutions. Map based applications could be significantly improved by utilization of digital elevation models (DEMs). DEMs can be produced using expensive modern remote sensing solutions (e.g., LIDAR). Such data are not available for the wide public. Thus, it is very effective to use contour line maps to derive high-quality DEMs. For many cities around the world, contour line maps available under liberal licenses. Defining an optimal algorithm of contour line interpolation and evaluation of the quality of DEM is an important challenge. In this article, we propose a simple method allowing users to evaluate the quality of DEM produced from a contour line map and define an optimal interpolation algorithm. This method was tested on Turin (Italy) data sets. The results were proved by a visual analysis. The approach is utilized in existing e-Government WebGIS services. This work introduces an information theory-based approach to DEM quality assessment. The results can be utilized in various domains related to DEM quality assurance.