Parameterization of Terrain in Army Combat Analysis

Abstract

This study presents and evaluates a methodology for parameterizing terrain for use in land combat analysis. The current procedure is to use digitized data which is compiled from actual terrain by engineer surveys and photo-interpretation. However, for those studies which do not require exact representation of terrain, a less costly and time consuming method can be used. In particular, terrain can be created mathematically by using a modified bivariate normal probability density function. An additional advantage of this approach is that the macro-terrain features can be created at random, thereby providing multiple, unique realizations of a type of terrain. This capability overcomes the sensitivity of Army study results to a single sample of terrain. When used for line-of-sight calculations, the parameterized, continuous representation eliminates the need for interpolations required for digitized terrain. The methodology and simulation can be employed independently or used as a preprocessor for other combat models.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1976
Accession Number
ADA028865

Entities

People

  • Christopher James Needels

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Classification
  • Combat Simulations
  • Computers
  • Data Science
  • High Resolution
  • Line Of Sight
  • Mathematics
  • Operations Research
  • Probability
  • Probability Density Functions
  • Schools
  • Simulations
  • Simulators
  • Surveys
  • Three Dimensional
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Approximation Theory.
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Computer Vision.