Leon Co Digital Elevation Model 2015

A map tile layer featuring 2015 Color Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with Hillshade Model. This DEM was produced from airborne Lidar data collected between January 18 – February 5, 2015. Shaded relief maps (also known as hillshades) are a textured representation of the terrain surface. This is accomplished by using a hypothetical light source to enhance terrain visualization, allowing the user to easily interpret the landforms. Shaded relief can be displayed either using a gray-scale ramp, or by using a color ramp based on elevation. The shaded relief surfaces published by TLCGIS are produced from bare-earth elevation data collected using Lidar. The 2015 Lidar data was collected in January and February of 2015. The fundamental accuracy for this data was tested to meet 0.33 feet for unvegetated surfaces. What is a Color Relief Map? A color 3D representation of the terrain is created by merging the images from the color symbolized elevation model and hillshade model. This function uses the altitude and azimuth properties to specify the sun's position. Relief maps are usually more visually expressive than traditional topographical maps, since they are able to depict landforms more realistically in comparison to topographical maps, which typically rely on contour lines and spot heights to depict elevation. Using only contour lines to represent the earth’s surface can be hard to interpret, especially to those unfamiliar with cartography. Complex terrain can make interpretation harder still. Relief maps are easy to understand and interpret visually, proving very useful for accurately communicating a true representation of the landscape. Relief maps also require less technical knowledge to be understood. Shaded relief maps or hillshading, illustrate the real, three-dimensional landforms as accurately as possible, in a map’s two-dimensions. This is achieved by illuminating the earth’s surface with a hypothetical light source; most often from the upper-left corner. The light source casts shadows across the surface geography, resulting in a map that mirrors the landscape as if naturally observed from a considerable height, with peaks and aspects facing the light being brightly “illuminated,” and valleys being in the “shade.” Shaded relief maps create the illusion of a three-dimensional appearance on standard paper or a screen. This tile layer is also available for download as a tile package at: Leon County Color Relief 2015 - Map Tile Package