We consider maintaining the contour tree T of a piecewise-linear triangulation M that is the graph of a time varying height function h: R2 → R. We carefully describe the combinatorial change in T that happen as h varies over time and how these changes relate to topological changes in M. We present a kinetic data structure that maintains the contour tree of h over time. Our data structure maintains certificates that fail only when h(v) = h(u) for two adjacent vertices v and u in M, or when two saddle vertices lie on the same contour of M. A certificate failure is handled in O(log(n)) time. We also show how our data structure can be extended to handle a set of general update operations on M and how it can be applied to maintain topological persistence pairs of time varying functions.

The work, described in this paper, covers three topics: real-world terrain analysis, synthetic terrain generation based upon the results of the analysis stage, and dynamic terrain generation. Each topic involves the theory of multifractals. First, a summary of four known fractal-based techniques

Networked sensors-those that coordinate amongst them-selves to achieve a larger sensing task-will revolutionize information gathering and processing both in urban environments and in inhospitable terrain. The sheer numbers of these sensors and the expected dynamics in these environments present

. In off-road simulation, the terrain is being modified as a result of its interaction with the vehicles. No previous methods deal with dynamic terrain. In this thesis, I present my research on real-time dynamic terrain visualization for off-road ground vehicle simulation. My research includes

The presented work extends the state-of-the-art in scientific simulation-driven 3D construction process visualization. We present a tool, ViTerra that engineers can use to automatically generate photorealistic, digital, 3D terrain CAD databases to represent construction jobsites in visualizations

reference. This paper presents a methodology to integrate multi-source data of island areas. To visualize the dynamic sea surface, this paper introduces a numerical tidal harmonic analysis and predication model to calculate the instantaneous sea level of tidal stations. With the discrete sea level points

Dynamic terrain is the ability to modify a terrain database in real-time. In the past, effects such as explosions did not alter the surface topology of the terrain by creating craters. The tracks and tires from vehicles did not leave ruts in areas with soft soil. This limited the training value

The dissertation develops a framework for the visualization of dynamic terrains for use in interactive real-time 3D systems. Terrain visualization techniques may be classified as either static or dynamic. Static terrain solutions simulate rigid surface types exclusively; whereas dynamic solutions

Abstract. Real time terrain generation is a vital part in the development of realistic computer simulations and games. Dynamic terrain generation influences the realism of simulation, because its participants have to adapt to the current environment conditions. Dynamically generated primary

is especially well-suited for applications like real-time off-road driving simulation involving large terrain areas with localized high-resolution terrain updates. Key words: dynamic terrain, triangle bintree, multiresolution representation, view-dependent mesh, level of detail 1