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<h1><img src="Terrain Images/fsx-bannerscenery.jpg" width="800" height="200" /></h1>
<h1>Terrain and Scenery</h1>
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
  <li><a href="#TheTerrainSystem">The Terrain System</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Regions">Regions</a></li>
  <li><a href="#LandClassification">Land Classification</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Elevations">Elevations</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Seasons">Seasons</a></li>
  <li><a href="#WaterClassification">Water Classification </a></li>
  <li><a href="#PopulationDensity">Population Density </a></li>
  <li><a href="#Base_File_Information">Base File Information</a></li>
  <li><a href="#TheShp2VecTool">The Shp2Vec Tool </a></li>
  <li><a href="#TheTmfViewerTool">The TmfViewer Tool </a></li>
  <li><a href="#TheResampleTool">The Resample Tool</a></li>
  <li><a href="#ResampleExamples">Resample Examples</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Appendix1">Appendix I: Comparsion of <i>Flight Simulator  2004</i> and X Regions</a></li>
  <li><a href="#AppendixII">Appendix II: The World Coordiante System </a></li>
  <li><a href="#AppendixIII">Appendix III: The Naming Convention for Terrain Textures</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>The terrain system in <i>Flight Simulator</i> consists of eight main
data components, elevation (DEM data), imagery, land classification,
water classification, regions, seasons, population density, and vector data. All
sets of data can be replaced in whole or in part by new data, perhaps
providing a higher resolution, or sometimes simply alternative data. The main tasks that are covered by this document are:</p>




<ul>




  <li>The Terrain System: An overview of how the seven terrain components work together.</li>


  <li>The tools used to modify or replace  the default data.</li>
</ul>




<h2>The Terrain System<a name="TheTerrainSystem" id="TheTerrainSystem"></a></h2>

The terrain system in<i> Flight Simulato</i>r is optimized to minimize disk
space. Whereas it would be technically possible to create the entire
world from satellite imagery and high resolution elevation data, this
would involve an enormous amount of data and is still not a practicable
proposition, even with the huge storage space available on DVDs.
Because of this, it is possible to improve on <i>Flight Simulator'</i>s
terrain and scenery in specific local areas. Before going into how to
make these improvments in detail, this section describes how the system
functions by default.<br />

<br />

The key to the terrain system is a grid, where the World is divided
into squares, roughly 1.2km on each side. Using this concept,
information is held on the World for the following properties:
geographical region, population density, land classification, water
classification and season. For example, if an aircraft is &nbsp;flying
over one of these grid squares in North America, this information can
be used not only to build a good approximation of the terrain, but also
provide information on how busy the highways are likely to be. At
exactly the same simulated time, an aircraft flying in the sourthern
hemisphere may well be flying in a different season, and even though
the land classification may be identical to the grid square in North
America, the rendering of that land can be different because of
regional variations in what trees make up a forest, or shrub is present
on a desert, for example. The grid system is not used for actual
terrain imagery or elevations, but as reference information so that the
correct textures can be located for any area.<br />

<br />

The following image shows the land classification for the sourthern tip
of Vancouver Island, Seattle, and some of the Cascade mountains. The
1.2km squares are very evident in the data. To view the default data, run the <a href="#TheTmfViewerTool">TmfViewer.exe tool</a>. Using this
  tool you can examine the BGL files that contain the default grid data. <br />

<br />

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/PugetSoundGrid.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Regions<a name="Regions" id="Regions"></a></h3>

<span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;"></span>The following diagram shows the geographical regions the world is divided into. 
<p></p>

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1000px; height: 505px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/FS10_Regions.JPG" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p></p>

<p>The regions are:</p>




<ul>

  <li>A: Europe Germanic</li>

  <li>B: North America North</li>

  <li>C: North America Southwest</li>

  <li>D: South America East</li>

  <li>E: Africa Central</li>

  <li>F: Asia Central</li>

  <li>G: Australia</li>

  <li>H: Tropics Pacific</li>

  <li>I: Arctic</li>

  <li>J: Middle East</li>

  <li>K: Europe British</li>

  <li>L: Europe French</li>

  <li>M: Europe Russian</li>

  <li>N: Europe Mediterranean West</li>

  <li>O: Europe Mediterranean East</li>

  <li>P: North America South</li>

  <li>Q: South America West</li>

  <li>R: Tropics American</li>

  <li>S: Tropics Asian</li>

  <li>T: Africa South</li>

  <li>U: Asia Cold-Dry</li>

  <li>V: Asia Industrial</li>

  <li>W: Asia Indian</li>

  <li>X: Australia Red</li>

</ul>




Note that Antartica and the interior of Iceland are classified as
Artic, but the coastline of Iceland falls into the Europe Germanic
category.<br />




<p></p>

<p>Using TmfViewer first load in the image of the world - stored in the
  <i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery\World\Scenery</i> folder.This can be used as a background image
with other information appearing as overlays.</p>

<p></p>

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/Globe.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Next, from the <i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery\Base\Scenery</i> folder, load in the
  regions.bgl file. This will show the regions overlayed onto the world
  map, as follows:</p>
<p></p>

<p></p>

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/Regions.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p></p>

To zoom in on a particular area of the world, first just click the
mouse on the area of interest, then press the Numpad + key to zoom in
(or Numpad - to zoom out). For example, to examine the center of
Australia in more detail, click on the red region in the center, then
press Numpad + a few times, and you should get the following image:<br />

<br />

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/Austraila%20Red.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p></p>
<p>It is possible to change the regions that have been applied to the
world, though it is not possible to add new regions to the 24 listed
above.</p>

<p></p>

<h3>Land Classification<a name="LandClassification" id="LandClassification"></a></h3>

<p></p>

<p>Next load up TmfViewer again, this time with just the worldlc.bgl
file, in the&nbsp;<i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery\Base\Scenery</i> folder. This contains all
the land classification data.</p>

<p></p>

<p></p>

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/LandClass.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p></p>

Each color coded square in the grid corresponds with a single
land type from the Olson Land Classification Table, shown below. It is
not possible to provide a greater degree of resolution than the 1.2km
squares of the grid, it is possible to change the land classification
to a different value from the table.&nbsp;







<h4>Olson Land Classification Table<a name="OlsonLandClassificationTable" id="OlsonLandClassificationTable"></a></h4>
<p>For any square on the land classification grid, a single value
from the following table applies. </p>




<p></p>




<table class="T1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2">




  <tbody>




    <tr>




      <td>
      
      
      
      <h5>Value</h5>




      </td>




      <td>
      
      
      
      <h5>Land Classification Description </h5>




      </td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>0</td>




      <td>Ocean, Sea, Large Lake</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>1</td>




      <td>Large City Urban Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>2</td>




      <td>Low Sparse Grassland</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>3</td>




      <td>Coniferous Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>4</td>




      <td>Deciduous Conifer Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>5</td>




      <td>Deciduous Broadleaf Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>6</td>




      <td>Evergreen Broadleaf Forests</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>7</td>




      <td>Tall Grasses And Shrubs</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>8</td>




      <td>Bare Desert</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>9</td>




      <td>Upland Tundra</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>10</td>




      <td>Irrigated Grassland</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>11</td>




      <td>Semi Desert</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>12</td>




      <td>Dry Crop and Town</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>13</td>




      <td>Wooded Wet Swamp</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>14</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>15</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>16</td>




      <td>Shrub Evergreen</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>17</td>




      <td>Shrub Deciduous</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>18</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>19</td>




      <td>Evergreen Forest And Fields</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>20</td>




      <td>Cool Rain Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>21</td>




      <td>Conifer Boreal Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>22</td>




      <td>Cool Conifer Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>23</td>




      <td>Cool Mixed Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>24</td>




      <td>Mixed Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>25</td>




      <td>Cool Broadleaf Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>26</td>




      <td>Southern Deciduous Broadleaf Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>27</td>




      <td>Conifer Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>28</td>




      <td>Montane Tropical Forests</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>29</td>




      <td>Seasonal Tropical Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>30</td>




      <td>Cool Crops And Towns</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>31</td>




      <td>Crops And Town</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>32</td>




      <td>Dry Tropical Woods</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>33</td>




      <td>Tropical Rainforest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>34</td>




      <td>Tropical Degraded Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>35</td>




      <td>Corn And Beans Cropland</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>36</td>




      <td>Rice Paddy And Field</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>37</td>




      <td>Hot Irrigated Cropland</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>38</td>




      <td>Cool Irrigated Cropland</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>39</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>40</td>




      <td>Cool Grasses And Shrubs</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>41</td>




      <td>Hot And Mild Grasses And Shrubs</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>42</td>




      <td>Cold Grassland</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>43</td>




      <td>Savanna (Woods)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>44</td>




      <td>Mire Bog Fen</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>45</td>




      <td>Marsh Wetland</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>46</td>




      <td>Mediterranean Scrub</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>47</td>




      <td>Dry Woody Scrub</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>48</td>




      <td>Dry Evergreen Woods</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>49</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>50</td>




      <td>Sand Desert</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>51</td>




      <td>Semi Desert Shrubs</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>52</td>




      <td>Semi Desert Sage</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>53</td>




      <td>Barren Tundra</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>54</td>




      <td>Cool Southern Hemisphere Mixed Forests</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>55</td>




      <td>Cool Fields And Woods</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>56</td>




      <td>Forest And Field</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>57</td>




      <td>Cool Forest And Field</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>58</td>




      <td>Fields And Woody Savanna</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>59</td>




      <td>Succulent And Thorn Scrub</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>60</td>




      <td>Small Leaf Mixed Woods</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>61</td>




      <td>Deciduous And Mixed Boreal Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>62</td>




      <td>Narrow Conifers</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>63</td>




      <td>Wooded Tundra</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>64</td>




      <td>Heath Scrub</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>65</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>66</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>67</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>68</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>69</td>




      <td>Polar And Alpine Desert</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>70</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>71</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>72</td>




      <td>Mangrove</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>73</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>74</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>75</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>76</td>




      <td>Crop And Water Mixtures</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>77</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>78</td>




      <td>Southern Hemisphere Mixed Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>79</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>80</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>81</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>82</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>83</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>84</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>85</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>86</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>87</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>88</td>




      <td>### Unused ###</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>89</td>




      <td>Moist Eucalyptus</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>90</td>




      <td>Rain Green Tropical Forest</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>91</td>




      <td>Woody Savanna</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>92</td>




      <td>Broadleaf Crops</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>93</td>




      <td>Grass Crops</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>94</td>




      <td>Crops Grass Shrubs</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>95</td>




      <td>Grass Skirting 1</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>96</td>




      <td>Grass Skirting 2</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>97</td>




      <td>Grass and Shrub Skirting</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>98</td>




      <td>Dry Grass and Dirt Skirting</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>99</td>




      <td>Sand and Desert Skirting</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>100</td>




      <td>Ocean, Sea, Large Lake</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>101</td>




      <td>Large City Urban Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>102</td>




      <td>Large City Urban Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>103</td>




      <td>Large City Urban Non Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>104</td>




      <td>Large City Urban Non Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>105</td>




      <td>Medium City Urban Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>106</td>




      <td>Medium City Urban Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>107</td>




      <td>Medium City Urban Non Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>108</td>




      <td>Medium City Urban Non Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>109</td>




      <td>Large City Suburban Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>110</td>




      <td>Large City Suburban Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>111</td>




      <td>Large City Suburban Non Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>112</td>




      <td>Large City Suburban Non Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>113</td>




      <td>Medium City Suburban Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>114</td>




      <td>Medium City Suburban Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>115</td>




      <td>Medium City Suburban Non Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>116</td>




      <td>Medium City Suburban Non Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>117</td>




      <td>Small City Suburban Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>118</td>




      <td>Small City Suburban Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>119</td>




      <td>Small City Suburban Non Grid Wet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>120</td>




      <td>Small City Suburban Non Grid Dry</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>121</td>




      <td>Large City Highrise</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>122</td>




      <td>Ice</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>123</td>




      <td>Inland Water</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>124</td>




      <td>Ocean Inlet</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>125</td>




      <td>Non Perennial Inland Water</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>126</td>




      <td>Non Perennial Inland Sea</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>127</td>




      <td>Reef</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>128</td>




      <td>Grass</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>129</td>




      <td>Arid</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>130</td>




      <td>Rock</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>131</td>




      <td>Dirt</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>132</td>




      <td>Coral</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>133</td>




      <td>Lava</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>134</td>




      <td>Park</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>135</td>




      <td>Golf Course</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>136</td>




      <td>Cement</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>137</td>




      <td>Tan Sand Beach</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>138</td>




      <td>Black Sand Beach</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>139</td>




      <td>Airfield1</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>140</td>




      <td>Airfield2</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>141</td>




      <td>Rock Volcanic</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>142</td>




      <td>Rock Ice</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>143</td>




      <td>Glacier Ice</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>144</td>




      <td>Evergreen Tree Crop</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>145</td>




      <td>Deciduous Tree Crop</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>146</td>




      <td>Desert Rock</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>147</td>




      <td>Savanna Grass</td>




    </tr>




  
  
  
  </tbody>
</table>




<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Use TmfViewer to zoom in on &nbsp;the area around San Diego. Notice
that if you place the mouse over any grid square the Olson class value
is given, along with the latitude and longitude, for that square.
Although classifications are color coded within the tool, this method
of placing the mouse and reading the value is the most precise way of
determining land class values.</p>
<p></p>
<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/San%20Diego.jpg" /></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<p></p>




<h3><a name="Elevations"></a>Elevations</h3>
To draw the landscape, elevation data is held in the dem4km.bgl file,
also in
the&nbsp;<i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery\Base\Scenery</i> folder. For  <span style="font-style: italic;">Flight Simulator X</span>, higher resoultion elevation data is provided than for <i>Flight Simulator 2004</i>. See the section on <a href="#Base_File_Information">Base File Information</a>
for details on where this elevation data is stored. And compare
the lower and higher resolution elevation data for Hawaii below.<br />

<br />

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/Elevation.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p><br />
  The following image shows the old elevation data for Hawaii, note
  the value given in the information bar is 3904. This is the height in
meters of the square the mouse is pointing at.</p>
<p><br />
</p>
<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/Hawaii.jpg" /></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p>The higher resolution elevation data for Hawaii provides the following image.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/Hawaii%20delux.jpg" /></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<p><br />
</p>
<h3>Seasons<a name="Seasons" id="Seasons"></a></h3>

There are five seasons: Spring (SP), Summer (SU), Fall (FA), Winter
(WI), and Hard Winter (HW). The main difference between the two winter
textures, WI and HW, is the snow on the ground in Hard Winter. Seasons
are different across the world at any one time, and this information is
held by <i>Flight Simulator</i> for the 12 months of the year. Seasonal
information does not vary at all in the simulation within a month, and
changes on midnight at the end of the month to the new season. The
following table shows the season information for four months of the
year. Note that green identifies summer, yellow is spring, red is fall,
grey is mild winter, and white is hard winter.
<p>&nbsp;</p>

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      <h5>January</h5>

      </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/January.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      <h5>April</h5>

      </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/April.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      <h5>July</h5>

      </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/July.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      <h5>October</h5>

      </td>

    </tr>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/October.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p></p>
<p>To view the season information using TmfViewer, first load up the
image_globe.bgl file from <i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery\World\Scenery</i>. Note that the
first image loaded into this tool is always opaque. The next images
loaded can be drawn transparent, so the outline of the countries/regions and
continents shows through.</p>

<p>Next load up the seasons.bgl file
from&nbsp;<i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery\Base\Scenery</i>. Use the View menu to select the
various months of the year.</p>

<br />

<h3>Water Classification<a name="WaterClassification" id="WaterClassification"></a></h3>




<p>There is not the same broad range of types and variants present
in the water classes that are found in the land textures. By default,
water classes
use one region and have one season, one variation, and no night
texture. To give greater visual control,&nbsp;water is categorized by
depth, plankton concentration, and whether it is tropical. The
depth&nbsp;tends
to dictate the darkness of the water color: the deeper the water, the
darker the texture. The plankton concentration determines the amount of
green in the water color:&nbsp; the more plankton, the greener the
water. Tropical waters are highlighted because they tend to have a
more vibrant color. Load up worldwc.bgl to see the water classification
map:</p>

<p></p>

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/WaterClass.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>




<p></p>

<p>The following definitions are used for water depth:</p>




<ul>

  <li>Shallow Ocean Water 1: 0-5m</li>

  <li>Shallow Ocean Water 2: 6-15m</li>

  <li>Shallow Ocean Water 3: 16-30m</li>

  <li>Shallow Ocean Water 4: 31-50m</li>

  <li>Medium Depth Ocean Water: 51-80m</li>

  <li>Deep Ocean Water: &gt;80m</li>

</ul>




<br />




<table class="T1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2">




  <tbody>




    <tr>




      <td>
      
      
      
      <h5>Texture &nbsp;Number</h5>




      </td>




      <td>
      
      
      
      <h5>Water Texture Description</h5>




      </td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>1</td>




      <td>Shallow Inland Water&ndash;Blue</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>2</td>




      <td>Deep Inland Water&ndash;Blue</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>3</td>




      <td>Ocean Inlets&ndash;Blue</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>4</td>




      <td>Non Perennial Inland Sea&ndash;Blue</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>5</td>




      <td>Non Perennial Inland Water&ndash;Blue</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>6</td>




      <td>Outflow Water &ndash; Blue</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>7</td>




      <td>Shallow Inland Water&ndash;Brown</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>8</td>




      <td>Deep Inland Water&ndash;Brown</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>9</td>




      <td>Ocean Inlets&ndash;&ndash;Brown</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>10</td>




      <td>Non Perennial Inland Sea&ndash;Brown</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>11</td>




      <td>Non Perennial Inland Water&ndash;Brown</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>12</td>




      <td>Outflow Water&ndash;Brown</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>13</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 1&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>14</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 2&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>15</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 3&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>16</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 4&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>17</td>




      <td>Medium Depth Ocean Water&ndash;Class1 (High
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>18</td>




      <td>Deep Ocean Water&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>19</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 1&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>20</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 2&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>21</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 3&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>22</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 4&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>23</td>




      <td>Medium Depth Ocean Water&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>24</td>




      <td>Deep Ocean Water &ndash;Class2 (Med High Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>25</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 1&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>26</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 2&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>27</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 3&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>28</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 4&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>29</td>




      <td>Medium Depth Ocean Water&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>30</td>




      <td>Deep Ocean Water &ndash;Class3 (Med Low Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>31</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 1&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>32</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 2&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>33</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 3&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>34</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 4&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>35</td>




      <td>Medium Depth Ocean Water&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>36</td>




      <td>Deep Ocean Water &ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration)</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>37</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 1&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>38</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 2&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>39</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 3&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>40</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 4&ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration),Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>41</td>




      <td>Medium Depth Ocean Water&ndash;Class1 (High
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>42</td>




      <td>Deep Ocean Water &ndash;Class1 (High Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>43</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 1&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>44</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 2&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>45</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 3&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>46</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 4&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>47</td>




      <td>Medium Depth Ocean Water&ndash;Class2 ( Med High
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>48</td>




      <td>Deep Ocean Water &ndash;Class2 (Med High Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>49</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 1&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>50</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 2&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>51</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 3&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>52</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 4&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>53</td>




      <td>Medium Depth Ocean Water&ndash;Class3 (Med Low
Plankton Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>54</td>




      <td>Deep Ocean Water &ndash;Class3 (Med Low Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




      <td>&nbsp;</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>55</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 1&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>56</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 2&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>57</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 3&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>58</td>




      <td>Shallow Ocean Water 4&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>59</td>




      <td>Medium Depth Ocean Water&ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td>60</td>




      <td>Deep Ocean Water &ndash;Class4 (Low Plankton
Concentration), Tropical</td>




    </tr>




  
  
  
  </tbody>
</table>



<p></p>
<p>The following image shows a close up of the Gulf of Mexico, the
light green areas clearly denoting the Shallow Inland Water
classifications.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/Caribbean.jpg" /></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<p> <br />
</p>
<h3>Population Density<a name="PopulationDensity" id="PopulationDensity"></a></h3>

<p>The population density of an area helps provide some guidelines as
to the amount of traffic that is on the highways, recreational boat
traffic on lakes, train frequency, and so on. Population density is
held in values from 0 (no people) to 100 (very high density city). Note
that black, used to identify the zero population case, occurs in
several land locations in the map below.</p>

<p></p>

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/PopDensity.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The following image shows the population density map for some of the
  northeast coast of the United States. The very high concentrations
  around the cities of Boston, New York and Philadelphia are very evident.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/New%20York.jpg" /></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<p></p>

<h3><a name="Base_File_Information"></a>Base File Information</h3>

<p>The file system used to store all the terrain information is based
around the following grid. In <i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Scenery</i> you will notice many folders
with numeric names such as 0000, 1107, and so on. The first two numbers
refer to the column of data (from 00 to 11) and the second two to the
row of data (from 00 to 07). So 0000 contains the default information
for the top left hand rectangle in the diagram below, and 1107 the
information for the bottom right hand rectangle. Each of the larger
rectangles (shown in red) is divided into smaller rectangles (shown in
blue).</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>There are 8 x 8 smaller rectangles within each larger one. These
  smaller rectangles reference scenery and vector data that is present
  within that area. These are also numbered column first, then row, so the small grid square 7824, for example, is the area around Hong Kong SAR (which falls in the large grid square 0903). This is a different grid system than the 1.2Km
  squares used previously. This system is used to organize the data files
  in a reasonably logical way. The large grid squares represent QMID level 4, the smaller squares QMID level 7 (see <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID and LOD values</a> for more details). </p>
<p></p>

<p></p>

<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">

  <tbody>

    <tr>

      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 974px; height: 509px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/BaseGrid.jpg" /></td>

    </tr>

  
  </tbody>
</table>

<p></p>

If you take, for example, the folder 0303, this will contain data for
much of the Caribbean Sea. Use TmfViewer to open the
dem0303.bgl file in this folder, and you will see the following
high resolution elevation data image. Each of the numbered directories
will contain elevation data with <span style="font-style: italic;">demNNNN</span> in the filename. This higher resolution data is used to draw the landscape more accurately when using  <i>Flight Simulator X</i> when compared with the previous version, <i>Flight Simulator 2004</i>. See the <a href="#Elevations">Elevations</a> section for a comparison of lower and higher resolution images of Hawaii.<br />
<br />
<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1024px; height: 742px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/Dem%200303.jpg" /></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>TmfViewer can also be used to examine the vector data (roads,
  rivers, streams and so on) for an area of the above grid. For example,
  open the file cvx7824.bgl (in the folder <i>scenery/0903/scenery</i>). Use the + key to zoom in  and you will see the following vector data
  applies to the area  around Hong Kong SAR.  Clearly the red lines are major highways, the blue lines are streams, the
  grey  lines are utilities, the yellow areas are airport boundaries and the green areas are parks. Right click near a vector to be given the option Identify Vector Features, which can be used to give details on the type of the vector. </p>
<p></p>
<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img src="Terrain Images/VectorData7824.JPG" width="936" height="720" /></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<h2>The Shp2Vec Tool<a name="TheShp2VecTool" id="TheShp2VecTool"></a></h2>
<p>The Shp2Vec (shape file to vector data) tool   is in the <i>SDK\Environment Kit\Terrain SDK</i> folder. This tool takes vector shape data and creates the BG:L files used by <i>Flight Simulator</i>. The vector shape data is in standard ESRI shape file format. This format includes three file types, .shp (shape data), shx (shape index data), and .dbf (database file containing attributes of the shape data). Shape file viewing utilities are available for free from a number of websites. The format is documented in the following paper:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="../../Core Utilities Kit/Variables/http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf">http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Shp2Vec tool is command line driven, and takes the following parameters:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<code><b>&gt;Shp2Vec <i>path quad -flags</i></b></code>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The <b>path</b> points to the root folder containing all the shape data. All shape files in that folder, or any sub-folder, are examined by the tool if the filename contains the <b>quad</b> number. The quad numbers can be located in the <a href="#Base_File_Information">Base File Information</a> grid (for example, Hong Kong SAR is in the quad 78 24). The  tool simply looks for files with the <b>quad</b> string present in the name, these strings do not have to match the grid squares, but can be any string that is common to all the shape vector filenames.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The default behavior of the tool is to provide replacement data for the quad cell. The flag <b>-ADDTOCELLS</b> is optional, and simply indicates the new data should be merged with existing data, and not replace it. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In addition to the shape files there is a propietary XML file that provides GUIDs of the appropriate vectors and textures that are used by <i>Flight Simulator</i>. The table below links to typical XML files, which are all used in  <a href="#Shp2VecExample1">Shp2Vec Example 1</a>, except the Exclusions vector data, which is used in <a href="#Shp2VecExample2">Shp2Vec Example 2</a>. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Vector Data </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Example</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Notes</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Airport Boundaries </td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/FLX7824.xml">FLX7824</a></td>
    <td>Airport boundaries are used for a number of purposes, including flattening the surface. <i>Flight Simulator X</i> does not support sloped runways. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Slopes and medium/high resolution water polygons </td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/HPX7824.xml">HPX7824</a></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Streams</td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/STX7824.xml">STX7824</a></td>
    <td>Includes rivers. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Low resolution water polygons </td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/HGX7824.xml">HGX7824</a></td>
    <td>These are used for GPS systems. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Roads</td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/RDX7824.xml">RDX7824</a></td>
    <td>This provides the graphic and data for the road surface. To have moving traffic appear on the road, a corresponding Freeways entry must be made. There is a significant performance cost in rendering moving road traffic. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Freeways</td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/FWX7824.xml">FWX7824</a></td>
    <td>This indicates moving traffic is drawn. There is no road surface associated with this type. Note that where freeways merge into a smaller number of lanes, the traffic on the dropped lanes simply disappears. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Utilities</td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/UTX7824.xml">UTX7824</a></td>
    <td>Includes power lines, telephone lines, and similar data. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Shorelines</td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/HLX7824.xml">HLX7824</a></td>
    <td>Shorelines in this context are those where a breaking wave (surf) effect should appear. Shoreline vectors are directional polylines that must go clockwise around the water polygons. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Railways</td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/RRX7824.xml">RRX7824</a></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Parks</td>
    <td><a href="Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData/PKX7824.xml">PKX7824</a></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Exclusions</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><p>Exclusions are polygons that exclude other shapes whose bounding boxes overlap the bounding box of the exclusion polygon.  The use of bounding boxes is less precise than using the actual shape geometry, but it's much faster at run time.  Exclusions only apply to shapes that are in lower priority scenery layers in scenery.cfg.  You cannot exclude shapes in the same or higher priority scenery layers.</p>
      <p>Exclusion polygons have a Texture attribute GUID like all the other terrain vector data and it is used to determine what type of shapes should be excluded.  There are three options for what to exclude:<br />
          <br />
        1. Exclude everything by using a NULL Texture GUID (all zeros).<br />
          <br />
        2. Exclude general classes of shapes (for example, all roads or all water polygons) by using one of the GUIDs from the <a href="#VectorAttributes">Vector Attributes</a> table.<br />
          <br />
        3. Exclude specific types of shapes (for example,  only one lane gravel roads or only golf course polygons) by using one of the GUIDs listed in <a href="Terrain Images/VectorShapePropertiesGuids.txt">VectorShapePropertiesGuids</a>. Note that you will have to convert the GUID from a C++ format to the XML format.<br />
    </p></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p></p>
<h5>Notes</h5>
<ul>
  <li>The Shp2Vec tool does not process vector data that crosses 180 degrees Latitude, or the Poles.</li>
  <li>The clip levels are the defaults used by <i>Flight Simulator X</i> data. Clip level 11 is <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID level</a> 11. Setting higher clip levels will create more detailed data, but at the expense of size and performance. Note the use of clip level 15 for freeways.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Vector Attributes <a name="VectorAttributes" id="VectorAttributes"></a></h4>
<p>The following table gives the GUIDs that apply for each type of vector data. Refer to the example XML files on how they are used. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Attribute Set</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Output Column</h5></td>
    <td><h5>CLIP LEVEL</h5></td>
    <td><h5>COMMENT</h5></td>
    <td><h5>ATTRIBUTE BLOCK</h5></td>
    <td><h5>ATTRIBUTEBLOCKGUID</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>AirportBounds</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>This uses 3D vertices, there is no special attribute to indicate this. </td>
    <td>AirportBounds</td>
    <td>{359C73E8-06BE-4FB2-ABCB-EC942F7761D0}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>AirportBounds</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>AirportBounds</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>AirportBounds</td>
    <td>{359C73E8-06BE-4FB2-ABCB-EC942F7761D0}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Exclusions</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Exclusions</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>Exclusions</td>
    <td>{AC39CDCB-DB78-4628-9A7C-051DA7AC864A}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>FreewayTrafficRoads</td>
    <td>NumberOfLa</td>
    <td>15</td>
    <td>Note the dbf file format truncates the Output Column type to 10 characters. The number of lanes can be in the range 1 to 9. Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>FreewayTrafficRoads</td>
    <td>{54B91ED8-BC02-41B7-8C3B-2B8449FF85EC}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>FreewayTrafficRoads</td>
    <td>TrafficDir</td>
    <td>15</td>
    <td><p>The direction of the traffic is specified in the shape file </p>    
      <p>&lsquo;B&rsquo; = both   directions</p>
      <p>&lsquo;F&rsquo; = from reference   node (one direction, cars drive away from vertex 0 toward vertex   N)</p>
      <p>&lsquo;T&rsquo; = toward reference   node</p></td>
    <td>FreewayTrafficRoads</td>
    <td>{54B91ED8-BC02-41B7-8C3B-2B8449FF85EC}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>FreewayTrafficRoads</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>15</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>FreewayTrafficRoads</td>
    <td>{54B91ED8-BC02-41B7-8C3B-2B8449FF85EC}</td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>Parks</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Parks</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>Parks</td>
    <td>{91CB4A9B-9398-48E6-81DA-70AEA3295914}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Railways</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Railways</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>Railways</td>
    <td>{33239EB4-D2B8-46F5-98AB-47B3D0922E2A}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Roads</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Roads</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>Roads</td>
    <td>{560FA8E6-723D-407D-B730-AE08039102A5}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Shorelines</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Shorelines</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>Shorelines</td>
    <td>{0CBC8FAD-DF73-40A1-AD2B-FE62F8004F6F}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Streams</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Streams</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>Streams</td>
    <td>{714BF912-F9DF-467E-80AE-28EB27374DBD}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Utilities</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Utilities</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>Utilities</td>
    <td>{C7ACE4AE-871D-4938-8BDC-BB29C4BBF4E3}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>WaterPolys</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>This uses 3D vertices, there is no special attribute to indicate this. </td>
    <td>WaterPolys</td>
    <td>{956A42AD-EC8A-41BE-B7CB-C68B5FF1727E}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>WaterPolys</td>
    <td>Guid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Guid of texture (as text)</td>
    <td>Texture</td>
    <td>{1B6A15BB-05FB-4401-A8D1-BB520E84904C}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>WaterPolys</td>
    <td>SlopeX</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Slope in vertical meters per degree of longitude. 13 char floating point number. </td>
    <td>Slope</td>
    <td>{CEB07D86-3605-44BE-B48A-97F8D01B74DE}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>WaterPolys</td>
    <td>SlopeY</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Slope in vertical meters per degree of latitude. 13 char floating point number.</td>
    <td>Slope</td>
    <td>{CEB07D86-3605-44BE-B48A-97F8D01B74DE}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>WaterPolys</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>WaterPolys</td>
    <td>{956A42AD-EC8A-41BE-B7CB-C68B5FF1727E}</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>WaterPolysGPS</td>
    <td>Uuid</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>Unique ID (does not go into game)</td>
    <td>WaterPolysGPS</td>
    <td>{EA0C44F7-01DE-4D10-97EB-FB5510EB7B72}</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5>Notes</h5>
<ul>
  <li>The unique IDs that are marked as does not go into game, are used to troubleshoot issues with the data creation process. </li>
  <li>The texture GUIDs (noted in the Attribute Block column) reference into in the <a href="Scenery Configuration File.html">Scenery Configuration File</a>. </li>
</ul>
<h4>Shp2Vec Example 1: Hong Kong SAR Area <a name="Shp2VecExample1" id="Shp2VecExample"></a></h4>
<p>The  <i>Vector Examples/Example1/SourceData</i> folder includes all the files for all the  types of vector data present around Hong Kong SAR. To run the example type the following in the command line, after navigating to the <i>SDK\Environment Kit\Terrain SDK</i> folder.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<code><b>&gt;shp2vec  &quot;Vector Examples\Example1\SourceData&quot; 7824</b></code>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The BGL file will be written to the same folder as the data, an example of the output is in the <i>Vector Examples/Example1/Output</i> folder. The command-line output will give some statistics when the tool runs correctly, for example the output from running the tool with the above example data is shown below:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/Shp2Vec_Output.JPG" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Shp2Vec Example 2: Excluding and Replacing around Hong Kong SAR (VHHH).  <a name="Shp2VecExample2" id="Shp2VecExample2"></a></h4>
<p>The <i>Vector Examples/Example2/SourceData</i> folder includes an example excluding and then replacing AirportBounds geometry around Hong Kong SAR. To run the example type the following in the command line, after navigating to the <i>SDK\Environment Kit\Terrain SDK</i> folder.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<code><b>&gt;shp2vec  &quot;Vector Examples\Example2\SourceData&quot; VHHH -ADDTOCELLS </b></code>
<p></p>
<p>Note the importance of the -ADDTOCELLS flag to add this data to the existing vector data. In the TmfViewer tool, the new airport boundary is shown in the following image.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/ExclusionVectors.JPG" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp; </p>
<h2>The TmfViewer Tool<a name="TheTmfViewerTool" id="TheTmfViewerTool"></a></h2>
<p>The TmfViewer tool is in the <i>SDK\Environment Kit\Terrain SDK</i> folder. It can be used to examine many different types of data stored in BGL files. You cannot use this tool to examine all BGL files, however, just those
using the <a href="#AppendixII">World grid system</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Use the <i>File/Open</i> menu item to load a file. Use the <i>Jump</i> menu items to save and use selected map locations. The following table describes the <i>View</i> menu elements of the TmfViewer tool.</p>
<p></p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Menu item </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Level of Detail </td>
    <td>All the available levels of detail (LOD) contained in the BGL file will be enabled. If an image is loaded and nothing appears, it can be that the Level of Detail is not set to a value that is applicable. Refer to <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID and LOD values</a> for more details. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LOD Grid </td>
    <td>Draws a grid showing the sizes of the LOD cells. Refer to <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID and LOD values</a> for more details. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>QMID Grid </td>
    <td>Draws a grid showing the sizes of the QMID cells. Refer to <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID and LOD values</a> for more details. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Seasons/Variations</td>
    <td>If seasonal data is relevant for the BGL file, then the months of the year, and the Night item will be enabled if they are present. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Show Missing Data Mask </td>
    <td>Selecting this will highlight any areas of data that are missing (that match the NullValue value, refer to the <a href="#SourceParameters">Source Parameters</a> for .inf files more details) with a blue/gray shading. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Show Water Mask </td>
    <td>Water on a land texture is determined by the alpha channel. Selecting this item will display such areas in blue. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Highlight Values ... </td>
    <td>This enables all areas with the same data value to be highlighted. For example, if Land Classification data is being examined, and the Land Class highlight value is set to 16 (see the <a href="#OlsonLandClassificationTable">Olson Land Classification</a> table), then all the Shrub Evergeen areas will be highlighted (in bright purple). Highlighting can also be done by right-clicking on an area. All otther areas with the same data value will be highlighted. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Clear All Highlights </td>
    <td>Simply resets all the Highlight Values to -1 (no highlights). </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Elevation Color Ramp... </td>
    <td>The elevation colors are fixed: magenta (lowest elevation), violet, blue, green, yellow, red,, white (highest). Changing the color ramp values changes at what elevation the colors change. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Overlay transparency... </td>
    <td>The first file loaded by this tool is always drawn opaque. Select this item if subsequent files loaded should be drawn transparent, so the first file shows through. This can be useful when comparing world elevation data, with the world population density, for example. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Vector Data </td>
    <td>Vector Data is linear data such as roads, streams, utility lines, shorelines, and other similar features. When vector data is loaded into this tool, select which data items that should be displayed. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Zoom</td>
    <td>Zoom in and out. This can also be done with the Numpad + and Numpad - keys. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Pan</td>
    <td>Pan North, South, East and West. This can also be done with the up, down, right and left arrow keys. </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<h2>The Resample Tool<a name="TheResampleTool" id="TheResampleTool"></a></h2>
<p>The key process in replacing or modifying the default data is known as resampling, and the key tool for this process is the resample.exe tool. This is a command line driven tool that takes information from a text file (a .inf file) and then processes the files referenced according to the parameters set. The following section describes the parameters that can be set in an .inf file, and this is followed by a number of worked examples. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The following are the four basic steps required to replace default data in <span style="font-style: italic;">Flight Simulator X.</span></p>
<ol>
  <li>Acquire raw digital  data (see the <a href="#ResampleExamples">Resample Examples</a> for some suggestions). </li>
  <li>Create an .inf file for the raw data.</li>
  <li>Run Resample.exe on the raw data to create a .bgl file.</li>
  <li><a href="#PlacethenewfilesinFlightSimulator">Place the new  files in the right folders</a> for <span style="font-style: italic;">Flight Simulator</span>.</li>
</ol>
<p>The resample tool is in the <i>SDK\Environment Kit\Terrain SDK</i> folder. The simplest way to use it is to drag a single .inf file onto the Resample tool icon. This is equivlant to a call in the command line: <b>Resample file.inf. </b>To run Resample
  tool from the command line allows a few options and the use of multiple .inf files, with the following format:</p>
<p><br />
  <b>Resample</b> [-i, -q, ?] <b>file1.INF</b>[file2.INF&hellip;fileN.INF]</p>
<ul>
  <li>-i ignores all but the last [Destination] section.</li>
  <li>-q runs in quiet mode.</li>
  <li>? prints a help message. </li>
</ul>
<p>All .inf files are text files with at least two sections:</p>
<ul>
  <li>[<a href="#SourceParameters">Source</a>] provides information on what source file to use,
    and how to interpret it.</li>
  <li>[<a href="#DestinationParameters">Destination</a>] provides information on where the resulting
    files  should be placed.</li>
</ul>
<p>By default, the resampler scans each .inf file, collecting information
  from each [Source] section it encounters. Once a [Destination] section
  is found, it proceeds with the resampling process. If more [Source]
  sections are thereafter encountered, they are treated as a separate
  task and these sections will be used when the next [Destination]
  section is encountered.&nbsp;If the -i switch is specified,
  resample ignores
  all but the last [Destination] section, so considers the whole file as
  a single task.<br />
  <br />
  Multiple .inf files are allowed because it is possible for the [Source]
  and [Destination] sections to be in separate files. This is convenient
  when you want to generate different resolutions of data from a single
  source file. Build an .inf file for the source data and multiple .inf
  files with [Destination] sections for each destination file. To
  generate one destination file from multiple source files, create an
  .inf file with a [Source] section for each file and a .inf file with a
  [Destination] section and list them all on the command line with the
  destination .inf file listed last. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h6>Comments</h6>
<p>To add a comment to an .inf file, either a whole line or information at the end of a line, add a semi-colon, this indicates to the Resample tool that any text following the semi-colon on the same line be ignored. </p>
<h4>Source Parameters<a name="SourceParameters" id="SourceParameters"></a></h4>
<p>If the file contains multiple source files, then the following section needs to be added to the top of the file (it has an identical [Source] directive to the parameters for a single file). All parameters are of the form <i>Parameter = Value</i>. There can be spaces or tabs either side of the equals sign. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5>[Source] section </h5>
<p>It is possible to define more than one source image in a single .inf
file.&nbsp; This is extremely useful when working with imagery that
has
seasonal and night time variations.&nbsp; To define multiple source
images, set the value of the [Source] Type directive to
MultiSource.&nbsp; Then add a NumberOfSource directive whose value
is
the number of source images you want to define.&nbsp; Finally, add
additional sections with names like [Source1], [Source2], and so on
that contain the source directives for each of the individual source
images.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class"T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Type = Multisource </b></td>
    <td>This directive simply informs the resample tool that this is a multi-source file. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>NumberOfSources =<i>n</i></b></td>
    <td>The number of [Source] sections in the file. </td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5>[Source] section </h5>
<p>The parameters can be listed in any order in the section. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2">
  
  <tr>
    <td width="141"><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td width="144"><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td width="150"><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td width="120"><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td width="120"><h5>Required</h5></td>
    <td width="120">&nbsp;</td>
    <td width="120">&nbsp;</td>
    <td width="120">&nbsp;</td>
    <td width="120">&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>BMP/</h5>
    <h5>TGA</h5></td>
    <td><h5>GeoTiff/ Tiff </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Raw</h5></td>
    <td><h5>SDE</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Vector GDB </h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>General Parameters </h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Type</b></td>
    <td><p>BMP</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>TGA</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>GeoTIFF</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>TIFF</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Raw</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>SDE</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>VectorGDB</p></td>
    <td><p>Windows bitmap</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Targa image file</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>GeoTIFF file</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>For TIFF imagery that does not have GeoTIFF georeferencing tags</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Raw BIP, BIL, or BSQ file</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Remote SDE Geodatabase</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Vector data in file or geodatabase</p></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Layer</b></td>
    <td><p>Elevation</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
      <p>Imagery</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>LandClass</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>PopulationDensity</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Region</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Season</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>WaterClass</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>None</p></td>
    <td><p>Elevation data</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Aerial imagery</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Land classification data</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Population density</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Cultural/environmental region data</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Season data</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Water classification data</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Used only when the resampling is to provide a source for another source. See the notes for <a href="#Channel_Red">Channel_Red</a>. </p></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Source Location Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>BMP/</h5>
        <h5>TGA</h5></td>
    <td><h5>GeoTiff/ Tiff </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Raw</h5></td>
    <td><h5>SDE</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Vector GDB </h5></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>GDBDatabase</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Geodatabase name</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>required if GDBType = Remote </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>GDBFeatureClass</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Vector feature class name</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>GDBInstance</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>Geodatabase instance (port number)</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>required if GDBType = Remote</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>GDBPassword</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Geodatabase user password</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>required if GDBType = Remote</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>GDBRaster</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Raster dataset name</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>GDBServer</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Geodatabase server name</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>required if GDBType = Remote</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>GDBType</b></td>
    <td>File</td>
    <td>Local data file</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>Local</td>
    <td>Local Access database</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>Remote</td>
    <td>Remote SDE database</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>GDBUser</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Geodatabase user name</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>required if GDBType = Remote</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>SourceDir</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Source file directory, in quotes. </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>required if GDBType = File or Local </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>SourceFile</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Source file name, in quotes. </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>required if GDBType = File or Local </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Georeferencing Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>&nbsp;</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>BMP/</h5>
        <h5>TGA</h5></td>
    <td><h5>GeoTiff/ Tiff </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Raw</h5></td>
    <td><h5>SDE</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Vector GDB </h5></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>GCS</b> (geographic coordinate system)</td>
    <td><p>WGS84</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>QMIDn</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>QMC</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>QMIC</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>    </td>
    <td><p>World Geodetic System of 1984</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p><i>Flight Simulator</i> quad mesh identifier level 0-30.See <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID and LOD Values</a>.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p><i>Flight Simulator</i> quad mesh coordinate system</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p><i>Flight Simulator</i> quad mesh integer coordinate system</p>    </td>
    <td>WGS84</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>nCols</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Number of columns</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>nRows</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Number of rows</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>PixelIsPoint</b></td>
    <td><p>0 or 1</p>    </td>
    <td><p>0: (ulxMap,ulyMap) at corner of pixel area </p>
      <p><img src="Terrain Images/SampleNotCentered.jpg" /><br />
1: (ulxMap,ulyMap) at center of pixel area</p>
    <p><img src="Terrain Images/SampleCentered.jpg" /></p></td>
    <td>1</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>ulxMap</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>  Longitude of upper left pixel.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required for TIFF</i> </td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>ulyMap</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td> Latitude of upper left pixel.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required for TIFF</i> </td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>xDim</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td><p>Size of each pixel in the X direction (Longitude) in degrees. For example:</p>
    <p><b>9e-6</b>  is 9 x 10 to the power of minus 6 degrees. See the table in <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID and LOD Values</a> for some comparisons of meters and degrees per pixel. </p>
    <p>In order for a texture to be reliably rendered in the near distance, this value should not exceed 4.27484E-05 (4.75meters per pixel). </p></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required for TIFF</i> </td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>yDim</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>Size of each pixel in the Y direction (Latitude) in degrees. </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td><i>required for TIFF</i> </td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Sampling Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>&nbsp;</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>BMP/</h5>
        <h5>TGA</h5></td>
    <td><h5>GeoTiff/ Tiff </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Raw</h5></td>
    <td><h5>SDE</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Vector GDB </h5></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>Bias</b></td>
    <td>number,...</td>
    <td>Bias added to sample values of each channel after scaling.  For imagery sources use a comma-separated list: red,green,blue,[,land/water[,blend]].  For all other sources use a single value.</td>
    <td>0.0 for all channels </td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>Channel_Red<a name="Channel_Red" id="Channel_Red"></a></b></td>
    <td>integer.integer</td>
    <td><p>One based source number and zero based band number  used for the red color channel. If no source number is specified, the current source is used. </p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>The tool can  read color, land/water mask, or blend mask channel from any band of any image.  By default, red, green, and blue are read from bands 0, 1, and 2 respectively.  The land/water mask is read from band 3 and the blend mask from band 4.  To override the defaults, use the <b>Channel_</b> parameters.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>To use a data source only to provide one or more channels for another source and to avoid sampling it directly, use <b>Layer=None</b>.<br />
    </p></td>
    <td>0</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Channel_Green</b></td>
    <td>integer.integer</td>
    <td>Source number and band number used for the green color channel.</td>
    <td>1</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Channel_Blue</b></td>
    <td>integer.integer</td>
    <td>Source number and band number used for the blue color channel.</td>
    <td>2</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Channel_LandWaterMask</b></td>
    <td>integer.integer</td>
    <td>Source number and band number used for the land/water mask channel (waves, specular, reflections).</td>
    <td>3</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Channel_BlendMask</b></td>
    <td>integer.integer</td>
    <td><p>Source number and band number used for the blend channel. </p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>This  8-bit blend mask channel for aerial imagery  controls the transparency of the image when pasted onto the terrain.  As an example this is used  around the edges of the St. Maarten island image to blend gradually between the aerial photo water and the generic water.  The blending channel is read from the 4th (zero-based) band of TIFF or GeoTIFF images, unless this parameter is used to change it. </p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>See <a href="#Example4CustomTerrain">Example 4: Custom Terrain Texture with Water and Blend Channels</a>  for an example of the use of water and blend channels. </p></td>
    <td>4</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Channel_Value</b></td>
    <td>integer.integer</td>
    <td>One-based Source number and zero-based band number used for monochrome values.  If no source number is specified, the current source is used.</td>
    <td>0</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>DefaultValue</b></td>
    <td>number, </td>
    <td>Values for each channel used if there is no data in the current pixel.  For imagery sources use a comma-separated list: red,green,blue,[,land/water[,blend]].  For all other sources use a single value.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><p><b>FractionBits</b></p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p><b>BaseValue</b></p></td>
    <td><p>integer, ... </p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>integer</p></td>
    <td><p>Scale multiplied by samples of each channel before biasing.  Expressed as a number of fractional bits where scale = 1 / (1 &lt;&lt; FractionBits). For imagery sources use a comma-separated list: red,green,blue,[,land/water[,blend]].  For all other sources use a single value.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>See the section <a href="#UsingScaledElevationValues">Using Scaled Elevation Values</a> below. </p></td>
    <td>0 for all channels </td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>MajorityMode</b></td>
    <td><p>Simple</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Weighted</p>    </td>
    <td><p>Simple majority of input samples determines the output value.  Input samples are not weighted unless any sample weights are provided manually via SampleWeight parameter.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Automatically weight input sample values to preserve the statistical distribution of sample values from the input to the output.  Automatic weights are overridden by any weights specified manually via the SampleWeight parameter.</p></td>
    <td>Simple</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>MaxValidValue</b></td>
    <td>number, </td>
    <td>Maximum value for each channel that will be considered to be valid.  Any value greater than this will be considered as missing data.  For imagery sources use a comma-separated list: red,green,blue,[,water[,blend]].  For all other sources use a single value.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>MinValidValue</b></td>
    <td>number, </td>
    <td>Minimum value for each channel that will be considered to be valid.  Any value less than this will be considered as missing data.  For imagery sources use a comma-separated list: red,green,blue,[,water[,blend]].  For all other sources use a single value.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>NullValue</b></td>
    <td>number, </td>
    <td><p>Sample value for each channel indicating that there is no data in the current pixel.  For imagery sources use a comma-separated list: red,green,blue,[,land/water[,blend]].  For all other sources use a single value.</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
      <p>Typically NullValue might be set to 255,255,255, as white indicating no data. </p>    </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>SampleWeight.n</b></td>
    <td>value,weight</td>
    <td>For majority sampling, apply a manual weight to specific sample values, where n = 1  NumberOfWeights</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>SamplingMethod</b></td>
    <td><p>Point</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Majority</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Dither</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Bilinear</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Gaussian</p></td>
    <td><p>Simple point sample</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Majority value within sample window prevails</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Dither between nearest neighbors when oversampling.  Fallback to point sampling when downsampling.</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Bilinear interpolation</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Gaussian interpolation</p></td>
    <td>Majority for classification data; Gaussian for continuous data</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>Scale</b></td>
    <td>number, ... </td>
    <td>Scale multiplied by each channel before biasing. For imagery sources use a comma-separated list: red,green,blue,[,land/water[,blend]].  For all other sources use a single value.</td>
    <td>1.0</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Raw Data Source Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>&nbsp;</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>BMP/</h5>
        <h5>TGA</h5></td>
    <td><h5>GeoTiff/ Tiff </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Raw</h5></td>
    <td><h5>SDE</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Vector GDB </h5></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>BandGapBytes</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Number of bytes between bands (BSQ - Band Sequential layouts only).</td>
    <td>0</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>BandLayout</b></td>
    <td><p>BIL</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
      <p>BIP</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>BSQ</p></td>
    <td><p>Band interleaved by line</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Band interleaved by pixel</p>
    <p>Band sequential (separate bands)</p>    </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>BandRowBytes</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Number of bytes per band per row</td>
    <td>nCols * sizeof( SampleType)</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>ByteOrder</b></td>
    <td><p>Intel</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Motorola</p></td>
    <td><p>Least significant byte first</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Most significant byte first</p></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>nBands</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Number of bands</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>SampleType</b></td>
    <td><p>UINT8</p>
    <p>SINT8</p>
    <p>UINT16</p>
    <p>SINT16</p>
    <p>UINT32</p>
    <p>SINT32</p>
    <p>UINT64</p>
    <p>SINT64</p>
    <p>FLOAT32</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>FLOAT64</p></td>
    <td><p>8 bit unsigned integer</p>
    <p>8 bit signed integer</p>
    <p>16 bit unsigned integer</p>
    <p>16 bit signed integer</p>
    <p>32 bit unsigned integer</p>
    <p>32 bit signed integer</p>
    <p>64 bit unsigned integer</p>
    <p>64 bit signed integer</p>
    <p>32 bit IEEE floating point</p>
    <p>64 bit IEEE floating point</p></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
   <tr>
    <td><b>SkipBytes</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Number of bytes to skip at start of file</td>
    <td>0</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>TotalRowBytes</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Total number of bytes per row</td>
    <td><p>BIL: nBands * BandRowBytes</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>BIP: nCols * nBands * sizeof( SampleType)</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>BSQ: BandRowBytes</p></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Season Data Source Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>&nbsp;</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>BMP/</h5>
        <h5>TGA</h5></td>
    <td><h5>GeoTiff/ Tiff </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Raw</h5></td>
    <td><h5>SDE</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Vector GDB </h5></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>Month</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Month of the year (1-12) associated with Season data sources.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Imagery Data Source Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>&nbsp;</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>BMP/</h5>
        <h5>TGA</h5></td>
    <td><h5>GeoTiff/ Tiff </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Raw</h5></td>
    <td><h5>SDE</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Vector GDB </h5></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>Variation</b></td>
    <td><p>January</p>
    <p>February</p>
    <p>March</p>
    <p>April</p>
    <p>May</p>
    <p>June</p>
    <p>July</p>
    <p>August</p>
    <p>September</p>
    <p>October</p>
    <p>November</p>
    <p>December</p>
    <p>Day (all months)</p>
    <p>LightMap or Night</p>
    <p>All (day and night)</p></td>
    <td>Temporal variation (month or time of day) associated with Imagery data sources.  LightMap images are used at night during all months.  To associate a single image with more than one temporal variation, use multiple values separated by commas.  For example, to use a single image in both January and February, type "Variation = January,February"</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Vector Data Source Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>&nbsp;</h5></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><h5>BMP/</h5>
        <h5>TGA</h5></td>
    <td><h5>GeoTiff/ Tiff </h5></td>
    <td><h5>Raw</h5></td>
    <td><h5>SDE</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Vector GDB </h5></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>VectorAttributeValue.<i>n</i></b></td>
    <td><p>whereClause, number</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>whereClause, fieldName</p></td>
    <td>Used by VectorGDB data sources to assign a value to polygons when rasterizing them.  The whereClause is a SQL "where clause" that selects the relevant polygon features.  To select all features, use an asterisk (*) for the whereClause.  The number is the sample value to use when rasterizing the selected polygons.  Alternately, a fieldName may be specified that determines the sample value to be assigned to the selected polygons.  The first VectorAttributeValue must have a ".1" suffix and additional ones count up from there.  For example VectorAttributeValue.1, VectorAttributeValue.2, etc.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Destination Parameters <a name="DestinationParameters" id="DestinationParameters"></a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The destination parameters are all held in a single [Destination] section, and the parameters can be listed in any order. </p>
<p>&nbsp; </p>
<h5>[Destination] section </h5>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>DestFileType</b></td>
    <td><p>BGL</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>BIP</p></td>
    <td><p><i>Flight Simulator</i> data file</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Raw BIP file</p></td>
    <td>BGL</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Destination Location Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>DestDir</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Destination file directory, in quotes. If the directory does not exist, the tool will create it. </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>DestBaseFileName</b></td>
    <td>text</td>
    <td>Destination file name without an extension, in quotes. If the file already exists, it will be overwritten. </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>required</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>SplitDirLOD</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>Segment the resampled data into multiple destination subdirectories based upon the bounds of cells with the given LOD..</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>SplitFileLOD</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>Segment the resampled data into multiple destination files based upon the bounds of cells with the given LOD.  Must be greater than or equal to DestDirLOD (if used)..</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Georeferencing Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Required</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>GCS</b> (geographic coordinate system, for BIP files only)</td>
    <td><p>WGS84</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
      <p>&nbsp;</p>
      <p>QMC</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>QMIC</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>QMIDn</p></td>
    <td><p>World Geodetic System of 1984</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>FS quad mesh coordinate system</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>FS quad mesh integer coordinate system</p>
    <p>&nbsp;</p>
    <p>FS quad mesh identifier level 0-30</p></td>
    <td>WGS84</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>NorthLat</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>North limit of sampling region in degrees.</td>
    <td>90</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>SouthLat</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>South limit of sampling region in degrees.</td>
    <td>-90</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>EastLon</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>East limit of sampling region in degrees.</td>
    <td>180</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>WestLon</b></td>
    <td>number</td>
    <td>West limit of sampling region in degrees.</td>
    <td>-180</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>BoundingCell</b></td>
    <td>level,u,v</td>
    <td><p>QMID of single cell to bound the sampling region, and horizontal and vertical co-ordinates. </p>
    <p>See <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID and LOD Values</a>. </p></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>MinBoundingCell</b></td>
    <td>level,u,v</td>
    <td><a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID</a> of cell forming the northwest bound of the sampling region, and horizontal and vertical co-ordidinates. Must be used with MaxBoundingCell. </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>MaxBoundingCell</b></td>
    <td>level,u,v</td>
    <td><a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID</a> of cell forming the southeast bound of the sampling region, and horizontal and vertical co-ordinates. Must be used with MinBoundingCell.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>UseSourceDimensions</b></td>
    <td>0 or 1</td>
    <td>If set to 1, match the sampling region to the bounds of the data sources.When UseSourceDimensions is enabled with multi-source files, Resample computes the union of the   dimensions of all source the files.</td>
    <td>0</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h6>Sampling Parameters</h6></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Parameter</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Value(s)</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Default</h5></td>
	<td><h5>Required</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>CompressionQuality</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Quality of compression.  A value of 100 indicates lossless compression and best quality.  Smaller values indicate higher compression and lower quality.</td>
    <td>100</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>LOD</b></td>
    <td>[min,]max</td>
    <td><p>Level of detail of each block of samples where LOD + 2 = QMID level.  If this parameter is set as <b>LOD=Auto</b>, an appropriate level of detail is chosen to match the resolution of the source data.</p>
    <p>See <a href="#QMIDandLODValues">QMID and LOD Values</a>. </p></td>
    <td>7 for classification data and imagery. </td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><b>MaxAutoLOD</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>The maximum allowable LOD that can be selected if <b>LOD=Auto</b>.</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td><b>TextureWidth</b></td>
    <td>integer</td>
    <td>Texture width in pixels.  One texture per block.</td>
    <td>256</td>
    <td><i>optional</i></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp; </p>
<h4>Notes on .inf Files</h4>
<p>&nbsp; </p>
<h6>The Geotiff File Format</h6>
<p>Most of the data used by <i>Flight Simulator</i> can be modified using
  files in the Geotiff file format. In general this is the recommended
  method for making changes to the default data, because much of the
  complexity of the parameters for the data is held within the file,
  which makes resampling using this format quite easy. Another advantage
  is clearly that the data is viewable with a simple bitmap viewer, such
  as Microsoft Paint. For full details of this file format, refer to the
  following document:</p>
<ul>
  <li>http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/IAS/handbook/pdfs/geotiff_spec.pdf</li>
</ul>
<p>Data that can be updated using Geotiff files includes: elevation,
  land class, water class, and population density. Data that cannot be
  updated using this format includes region and season data, this
  information is specific to <span style="font-style: italic;">Flight Simulator</span>, and will need special treatment.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h6>Using Scaled Elevation Values<a name="UsingScaledElevationValues" id="UsingScaledElevationValues"></a></h6>
<span style="font-style: italic;">Flight Simulator</span> supports scaled elevation values. The elevation resampler provides a
capability whereby very precise elevation values can be specified at
the expense of the range of these values. By default, the resampler
expects elevation values to be in increments of one meter. However,
with the BaseValue and FractionBits directive, you can specify
different scalings for source and/or destination data.<br />
<br />
For example, say you had source data with elevation measurements
precise within 1/128 of meter. Since elevation values are represented
as a signed 16-bit integer, the range of values a given integer can
express is -32768 to 32767. As stated above, the resampler's default
behavior is to assume the given elevation values to be in meters, which
means the default range of values is -32768 meters to 32767 meters.<br />
<br />
If you set the FractionBits directive to 1 in the [Source] section of
the .inf file, the resampler knows that the source data is in the form
of &quot;15.1&quot; numbers. This means that each number has 15 bits reserved for
the whole number part and 1 bit reserved for the fractional part.<br />
<br />
With a single bit used for fractions, a number can be precise to within
one-half (since the first place-value after the decimal point in a
binary number represents one-half). From this, it is evident that a
15.1 number is more precise than a 16-bit integer; however, its range
is half of a 16-bit integer. The range of a 15.1 number is -16384 to
16383.5. Each increment to the number represents an increment by 1/2.
So, a 1 means 1/2 meter, a 2 means 1 meter, a 3 means 1.5 meters, and
so on.<br />
<br />
If we have source data precise to 1/128 meter. This means that a 1
equals 1/128 meter, a 2 equals 2/128 meter, and so on. To represent the
example data properly, we need to specify 9 bits for the whole number
part and 7 bits for the fraction part, or a 9.7 number. We do this with
the following directive:<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
FractionBits = 7</span><br />
<br />
Since 9 bits are reserved for the whole number part, the range is -512
to 511.984375. This is a fairly narrow range. Unless the area on the
earth represented by this data is below 512 meters (and above -512
meters), there would be a problem representing the magnitude of the
elevations. An elevation of 1000 meters, for example, cannot be
expressed with a &quot;9.7&quot; scaled number. It is outside of the range. To
solve this problem, the directive BaseValue can be used to define a
&quot;zero point&quot; for the elevation values. For example, if the following is
specified:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">FractionBits = 7</span><br style="font-weight: bold;" />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">BaseValue = 1000</span><br />
<br />
A value of zero in the source data means 1000 meters. A value of 1
means 1000 + 1/128 meter (or 1000.78125).<br />
<br />
You can use the FractionBits and BaseValue directives in either the
[Source] or [Destination] sections, or in both sections. In the case
where these directives specify different scalings in the [Source] and
[Destination] sections, the resampler will attempt to form the source
scale to the destination scale. If a loss of precision occurs, the
resampler will print an error message.
<h6>&nbsp;</h6>
<h6>QMID and LOD Values<a name="QMIDandLODValues" id="QMIDandLODValues"></a></h6>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>QMID (Quad Mesh Identifier) values are an internal system used by <i>Flight Simulator</i> to optimize the textures required to represent the Earth, depending on the altitude the aircraft is flying at. Levels 0 and 1 are not used. At level 2 the Earth is divided into six quadrants, three for each hemisphere. Level 3 divides each of the quadrants in the higher level into four, and so on down to level 17 which gives a ratio of one pixel to 1.19 meters. Unfortunately the QMID levels do not match the LOD (Level of detail) levels exactly, there is an offset of 2 between these two indexing systems. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  
  <tr>
    <td><h5>QMID level</h5></td>
    <td><h5>LOD</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Block size (degrees) </h5>
    </td>
    <td><h5>One Pixel (degrees)</h5>
    </td>
    <td><h5>Meters/pixel</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>2</td>
    <td>0</td>
    <td>90</td>
    <td>0.350194553</td>
    <td>38913.62</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>3</td>
    <td>1</td>
    <td>45</td>
    <td>0.175097276</td>
    <td>19456.81</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>4</td>
    <td>2</td>
    <td>22.5</td>
    <td>0.087548638</td>
    <td>9728.40</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>5</td>
    <td>3</td>
    <td>11.25</td>
    <td>0.043774319</td>
    <td>4864.20</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>6</td>
    <td>4</td>
    <td>5.625</td>
    <td>0.02188716</td>
    <td>2432.10</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>7</td>
    <td>5</td>
    <td>2.8125</td>
    <td>0.01094358</td>
    <td>1216.05</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>8</td>
    <td>6</td>
    <td>1.40625</td>
    <td>0.00547179</td>
    <td>608.03</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>9</td>
    <td>7</td>
    <td>0.703125</td>
    <td>0.002735895</td>
    <td>304.01</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>10</td>
    <td>8</td>
    <td>0.3515625</td>
    <td>0.001367947</td>
    <td>152.01</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>9</td>
    <td>0.17578125</td>
    <td>0.000683974</td>
    <td>76.00</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>12</td>
    <td>10</td>
    <td>0.087890625</td>
    <td>0.000341987</td>
    <td>38.00</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>13</td>
    <td>11</td>
    <td>0.043945313</td>
    <td>0.000170993</td>
    <td>19.00</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>14</td>
    <td>12</td>
    <td>0.021972656</td>
    <td>8.54967E-05</td>
    <td>9.50</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>15</td>
    <td>13</td>
    <td>0.010986328</td>
    <td>4.27484E-05</td>
    <td>4.75</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>16</td>
    <td>14</td>
    <td>0.005493164</td>
    <td>2.13742E-05</td>
    <td>2.38</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>17</td>
    <td>15</td>
    <td>0.002746582</td>
    <td>1.06871E-05</td>
    <td>1.19</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>18</td>
    <td>16</td>
    <td>0.001373291</td>
    <td>5.34354E-06</td>
    <td>0.59</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>19</td>
    <td>17</td>
    <td>0.000686646</td>
    <td>2.67177E-06</td>
    <td>0.30</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>20</td>
    <td>18</td>
    <td>0.000343323</td>
    <td>1.33589E-06</td>
    <td>0.15</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>21</td>
    <td>19</td>
    <td>0.000171661</td>
    <td>6.67943E-07</td>
    <td>0.07</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>22</td>
    <td>20</td>
    <td>8.58307E-05</td>
    <td>3.33972E-07</td>
    <td>0.04</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>23</td>
    <td>21</td>
    <td>4.29153E-05</td>
    <td>1.66986E-07</td>
    <td>0.02</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>24</td>
    <td>22</td>
    <td>2.14577E-05</td>
    <td>8.34929E-08</td>
    <td>0.01</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>25</td>
    <td>23</td>
    <td>1.07288E-05</td>
    <td>4.17464E-08</td>
    <td>0.00</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>26</td>
    <td>24</td>
    <td>5.36442E-06</td>
    <td>2.08732E-08</td>
    <td>0.00</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>27</td>
    <td>25</td>
    <td>2.68221E-06</td>
    <td>1.04366E-08</td>
    <td>0.00</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>28</td>
    <td>26</td>
    <td>1.3411E-06</td>
    <td>5.21831E-09</td>
    <td>0.00</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>29</td>
    <td>27</td>
    <td>6.70552E-07</td>
    <td>2.60915E-09</td>
    <td>0.00</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The QMID and LOD grids can be viewed using the TmfViewer tool, for example:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table width="800" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td>The following image shows the globe at with the QMID level 3 grid. The highlighted area is the base area around Hawaii, which is the dem data that was loaded into the tool. This file is dem0003.bgl in the scenery\0003 folder. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/QMID3.jpg" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>The following image shows Hawaii and the QMID level 11 grid. Note the latitude and longitude co-ordiantes of the pointer, which is in the grid square marked by the white circle, in the bar bottom right. The QMID level, u and v co-ordinates are in the bar, bottom left: </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/QMID11.jpg" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>The following image shows Hawaii and the QMID level 12 grid (note the grid squares are one quarter the area of QMID level 11): </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/QMID12.jpg" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<br />
<p>
<h3>Resample Examples<a name="ResampleExamples" id="ResampleExamples"></a></h3>
<p>All example .inf files are in the <i>Terrain SDK/Resample Examples</i> folder. The output from running the examples will be placed in the <i>Terrain SDK/Resample Examples/Output</i> folder. The input is in the <i>Terrain SDK/Resample Examples/SourceData</i> folder, and can be examined just by double clicking on the files to open them up in an image viewer.</p>
<ul>
  <li><a href="#Example1CustomElevation">Example 1: Replacing Elevation Data</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Example2CustomLandClass">Example 2:  Creating new Land Classifications</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Example3CustomTerrain">Example 3:  Creating Custom Terrain Textures</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Example4CustomTerrain">Example 4: Custom Terrain Texture with Water and Blend Channels</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Example5Multisource">Example 5: Multiple Source and Blend Channels</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>Example 1. Replacing Elevation Data<a name="Example1CustomElevation" id="Example1CustomElevation"></a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>To run this example, drag the <a href="Resample Examples/DeathValley_Elevations.inf">DeathValley_Elevations.inf</a> file onto the Resample tool icon. </p>
<p>

<p>Textures for all appropriate levels of detail are created by the Resample tool, and stored in the BGL files. For the Death Valley example, the tool creates and stores textures only in LODs 2-10. You can confirm this by opening DeathValley_Elevations.bgl in TmfViewer by expanding the &quot;Level of Detail&quot; item   on the View menu. When you do this you will notice that only levels 2-10 are   enabled in the menu.&nbsp; All the other levels are grayed out because they do not exist in the bgl file. The images below show Death Valley elevation data from QMID level 2 to level 10.
<p>
<p>
  </div>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td>Death Valley at QMID level 2 </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LOD2.JPG" width="775" height="512" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Death Valley at QMID level 4 </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LOD4.JPG" width="775" height="512" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Death Valley at QMID level 6 </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LOD6.JPG" width="775" height="512" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Death Valley at QMID level 8 </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LOD8.JPG" width="775" height="512" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Death Valley at QMID level 10 </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LOD10.JPG" width="775" height="512" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<h4>&nbsp;</h4>
<h5>Notes on Acquiring Raw Digital Elevation Data</h5>
<p>A DEM provides a digital representation of a portion of the
  earth's elevation points over a two-dimensional surface. A DEM is
  generated by sampling an array of elevation values derived from
  topographic maps, aerial photographs, or satellite images.<br />
  There are a number of places to get digital elevation data. Most
  terrain data available for free over the Internet is typically stored
  in formats such as the USGS DEM (Digital Elevation Model) ASCII, USGS
  TAR, or USGS Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) formats. All source
  data is expected to use WGS84 projection.<br />
  <br />
  For example, this is a link to the USGS 100 meter DEM for the entire
  United States of America. Just click on the area of DEM you want:<br />
  http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/glis/hyper/guide/1_dgr_demfig/index1m.html<br />
  <br />
  The raw data used when creating terrain for <i>Flight Simulator</i>  must
  be in a binary file format, with each elevation point (measured in
  meters above mean sea level) being assigned a 16-bit integer. The
  resampler supports both LSB (least significant byte first) and MSB
  (most significant byte first) 16-bit integers.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The USGS DEM and SDTS formats are not compatible with the
  terrain tools included with this SDK, but there are converters
  available (free of charge) on websites that convert the data to a
  compatible binary form. For example, see the read_dem.exe tool
  that&rsquo;s available for download at
  http://dbwww.essc.psu.edu/notes/utilities.html. 
  After using this tool, you should be able to run the output DEM data
through the&nbsp;Resample tool. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>You may find that the source files you acquire
come with a header file. This header file provides the information
needed for some sections of the .inf file such as the bounding area.</p>
<h4>Example 2: Creating new Land Classifications<a name="Example2CustomLandClass" id="Example2CustomLandClass"></a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>To run these examples, drag the<a href="Resample Examples/LandClass_AutoWeightedMajority.inf"> LandClass_AutoWeightedMajority</a>, <a href="Resample Examples/LandClass_Dither.inf">LandClass_Dither</a>, <a href="Resample Examples/LandClass_ManuallyWeightedMajority.inf">LandClass_ManualWeightedMajority</a>,<a href="Resample Examples/LandClass_PointSample.inf"> LandClass_PointSample</a> and <a href="Resample Examples/LandClass_SimpleMajority.inf">LandClass_SimpleMajority</a> .inf files onto the Resample tool icon. The output can be viewed in TmfViewer, and should look like the images shown below. If an image is not showing in TmfViewer after loading, check the Level of Detail menu, to be sure that one of the appropriate levels of detail has been selected. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td>LandClass Auto Weighted example </td>
    <td>LandClass Dither example </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LandClassAuto.JPG" width="356" height="463" /></td>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LandClassDither.JPG" width="356" height="463" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LandClass Manual Weighted example </td>
    <td>LandClass Point example </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LandClassManual.JPG" width="356" height="463" /></td>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LandClassPoint.JPG" width="356" height="463" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>LandClass Simple Majority example </td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/LandClassSimple.JPG" width="356" height="463" /></td>
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Example 3: Creating Custom Terrain Textures<a name="Example3CustomTerrain" id="Example3CustomTerrain"></a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>To run these examples, drag the <a href="Resample Examples/MillenniumImage.inf">MillenniumImage</a> and <a href="Resample Examples/DayNight_Variations.inf">DayNight_Variations</a> .inf files over the Resample tool icon.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Millennium example illustrates a couple of concepts, the use of a GeoTIFF image with Resample, using a source image with transparent &quot;NullValue&quot; pixels, setting the lossy compression quality to 75%, and using an automatic selection for the LOD levels.  The Resample tool outputs a range of LODs
  appropriate for the source image. After the Resample tool finishes, open the resulting .BGL file in TmfViewer to view the imagery. You can also drop the .BGL file in <i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X/Addon Scenery\scenery</i> to view it in the game.  The imagery will appear near N47.68, W122.1.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The DayNight_Variations example shows how two different textures apply during different daylight hours. It also shows the use of mutliple source files, and the providing of co-ordiantes within the .inf file, rather than the raw data. The resulting textures can be viewed in TmfViewer, or in the game if the bgl file is moved to <i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X/Addon Scenery\scenery.</i> In TmfViewer chose different <i>Levels of Detail </i>to view the image, and check on Night in the <i>Seasons/Variations</i> submenu to see the nighttime image. To view the imagery in the game, use the Map feature and enter 0 into the Latitude box. You will be flying around the open Pacific and the images will be rendered onto the sea (see the screen shots below). </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>These examples show how to add custom satellite or aerial
imagery to the terrain in&nbsp;<span style="font-style: italic;">Flight
Simulator X</span>.
These are simply the textures used to render onto the terrain, to add
buildings and trees to custom textures, follow the directions in the <a href="../Autogen SDK/Autogen.html">Autogen annotation</a> document.. Areas in <span style="font-style: italic;">Flight</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Simulator</span> like New York City, Chicago, and Las Vegas were created using the
methods discussed here, and in the Autogen document..</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td>Millennium Buildings: note the white space around the edges is removed by setting the NullValue parameter to 255,255,255. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/MillenniumBuildings.JPG" width="1024" height="742" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td>Day</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/Variations_day.JPG" width="512" height="384" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Night</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/Variations_night.JPG" width="512" height="400" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Dawn</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/Variations_dawn.JPG" width="512" height="384" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Dusk: note the merging of both the Day and Night variations </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/Variations_dusk.JPG" width="512" height="384" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h5>Notes on Acquiring Raw Terrain Imagery</h5>
<p>&nbsp; </p>
<p>More than likely, the image you want to use will be an aerial or
  satellite photo. The raw image must be either a 24-bit per pixel
  Windows .bmp file or a 32-bit per pixel Targa .tga file.&nbsp; For
  some
  file formats, you can use Imagetool&nbsp;to convert the image into
  the
  desired format. It is assumed that the image has been projected to the
  WGS84 Latitude/Longitude datum. The latitude and longitude of the
  northwest corner of the image must be known as well as the spacing (in
decimal degrees) between the image pixels. </p>
<p><br />
  To add reflective water effects to an image, you must use the 32-bit
  per pixel Targa .tga format.&nbsp; The resampler tool uses the
  8-bit
  alpha channel of the image to determine the location of water and land
  in the image.&nbsp; The alpha value of water and land pixels must
  be 0
  and 255 respectively.<br />
</p>
<p>The north/south extent of each terrain texture pixel is about 1.19
  meters in <i>Flight Simulator X</i> (it was 4.75m in <i>Flight Simulator 2004</i>). The resampling process will
  filter the raw image to the right size. <br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If the raw image is more than
  1.19 meters per
  pixel (low resolution), the final result may appear blurry. <br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If the raw image is less than
  1.19 meters per
pixel (high resolution), some fine details might be lost. <br /></p>
<h4>Example 4: Custom Terrain Texture with Water and Blend Channels<a name="Example4CustomTerrain" id="Example4CustomTerrain"></a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>To run this example drag the <a href="Resample Examples/MillenniumImage_water_blend.inf">MilleniumImage_water_blend.inf </a>file over the Resample tool icon. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The example shows the use of the water and blend channels, and can be compared with the Millennium Buildings in <a href="#Example3CustomTerrain">Example 3</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table width="800" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td>The following image shows the source: Millennium_water_blend.tif </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/MillenniumWaterBlend.JPG" width="828" height="377" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>The following image shows the Millennium_water_blend.bgl file, loaded into TMFViewer, with the Level of Detail set to 17. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/MillenniumBlendTMF.JPG" width="735" height="423" /></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>The following image shows the Millennium_water_blend.bgl file, loaded into TMFViewer, with the missing data and water mask menu items selected. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/MillenniumBlendTMF2.JPG" width="773" height="517" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Example 5: Multiple Source and Blend Channels<a name="Example5Multisource" id="Example5Multisource"></a></h4>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>To run this example drag the <a href="Resample Examples/MultiChannel_MultiSource.inf">Multichannel_Multisource.inf</a> file over the Resample tool icon. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The example shows  how to read the land/water mask and/or blend mask from separate files from the main color channels. Note that white (RGB: 255,255,255) is land and black (RGB: 0,0,0) is water.  If you want the default water color to show through, you must paint entirely black pixels into the  source image containing the color channels. Anything other than black will be used as is but with reflective water effects.  
The location of the new terrain is at Latitude 0, Longitude -122.308. Examine the <a href="Resample Examples/SourceData/BlendMask.tif">Blend Mask</a> and <a href="Resample Examples/SourceData/LandWaterMask.tif">LandWater Mask</a> files and the following screen shot taken from within <i>Flight Simulator</i>. </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table width="800" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td><img src="Terrain Images/MultisourceBlend.JPG" width="1032" height="822" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp; </p>
<h3>Place the new Files in <span style="font-style: italic;">Flight</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Simulator</span><a name="PlacethenewfilesinFlightSimulator" id="PlacethenewfilesinFlightSimulator"></a></h3>




<p>The easiest way to add a new .bgl file to <i>Flight Simulator</i> is
to copy it into the <span style="font-style: italic;">Addon
Scenery\Scenery</span> directory. Files in this directory are
treated as higher priority than those in other directories, so new
terrain data here will be rendered in preference to lower priority data
elsewhere. However, for complex new additional scenery, it is probably more useful to create a&nbsp;folder for the custom scenery area. This will enable a user to select and deselect the scenery using the Scenery Library dialog.</p>
<p><br />
To create the appropriate directories:
</p>
<ol>
  <li>Create a new scenery area folder, with an appropriate name. Within each scenery area, create two subdirectories:
    Scenery and Texture. </li>
  <li>Place any .bgl files into the Scenery directory.</li>
  <li>Place any necessary  .bmp files into the Texture directory. </li>
  <li> Run <i>Flight Simulator</i> and choose Scenery Library under the
    Settings tab.</li>
  <li>Click the <span style="font-style: italic;">Add
    Area</span> button and fill in the blanks.The new scenery area
    will not be visble in <i>Flight Simulator</i> until you restart the
    program.<br />
  </li>
</ol>
<p>The final step is to view the new data within <i>Flight
Simulator</i>, and go back and repeat the resampling steps if it is not quite right
(possibly resampling to a higher or lower resolution).</p>




<h2>Appendix I: Comparison of <span style="font-style: italic;">Flight
Simulator 2004</span> and <i>X</i> Regions <a name="Appendix1" id="Appendix1"></a></h2>




The following diagram shows the regions in <i>Flight Simulator X</i> compared with those in
FS 2004. No additions have been made to the water class system.<br />




<br />




<table style="text-align: left; width: 800px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">




  <tbody>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined"><img style="width: 1000px; height: 1000px;" alt="" src="Terrain%20Images/FS9%20v%20FS10%20regions.JPG" /><br />
      </td>




    </tr>




  
  
  
  </tbody>
</table>




<br />




<h2>Appendix II: The World Coordinate System<a name="AppendixII" id="AppendixII"></a></h2>




One of the most powerful features of BGL is that everything is based on
a world coordinate system that is spherical and very much like
latitude/longitude. <br />




<br />




In <i>Flight Simulator</i>, the earth is defined as an &ldquo;oblate
spheroid,&rdquo; an ellipse rotated about its minor axis. In terms
of
shape, it's much like a sphere that is a little bit fat around the
equator. In <i>Flight Simulator</i>, the earth has the following dimensions:<br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Equatorial diameter=12756.27 km<br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Equatorial
circumference=40075.0 km<br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Polar diameter=12734.62 km<br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Polar circumference=40007.0 km<br />




<br />




Unlike other 3-D graphics systems (rectilinear systems that overlay a
square grid over a map that is really a portion of a sphere), the
position of scenery in BGL is specified in world coordinates. The
following table includes the elements of the world coordinate system
used by BGL and <i>Flight Simulator</i> to specify position in the world.<br />




<br />




<table class="T1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">




  <tbody>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      
      
      <h5>Dimension</h5>




      </td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      
      
      <h5>Representation</h5>




      </td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Longitude</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">0 at
0&deg; longitude. East is positive; west is negative with overflow
wrap at 180&deg;.</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Altitude</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">0 at
sea level. Positive is up; negative is down.<br />




      </td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Latitude</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">0 at
equator. Positive is north; negative is south.</td>




    </tr>




  
  
  
  </tbody>
</table>




<br />




Although the position of objects on the earth is specified in the world
coordinate system, actual design work is done in smaller rectilinear
coordinate systems placed with their centers at a given world
coordinate.<br />




<br />




<h3>The Object Coordinate System</h3>




The object coordinate system is used to design
scenery. The object coordinate system is based on the X, Y, Z concept
of design space. The rectilinear, 3-D X, Y, Z coordinate system is set
up with its center, X=Y=Z=0, at the specified latitude, longitude, and
altitude. The Z-axis aligns with true north (parallel to lines of
longitude), the X-axis aligns with east (parallel to lines of
latitude), and the Y-axis aligns with altitude. You can define points,
lines, and polygons within the X, Y, Z design space.<br />




The X, Y, and Z-axes each have a range of +/-32767 (16-bit linear
design space). The size that each unit along the axes represents
depends on the scale factor. The scale factor can range from less than
1 millimeter per unit to 32768 meters per unit.<br />




The object design system creates some interesting design problems not
unlike those in the real world. For example, a 1 mile square section of
land in the northern hemisphere encompasses more longitude at its
northern edge because this edge is further north on the sphere.
Conversely, a "square" piece of land that has its east and west borders
precisely aligned with lines of longitude and its north and south
borders aligned with lines of latitude isn&rsquo;t really square
because its north edge is shorter than its south edge. When aligning
many square pieces on the earth&rsquo;s surface, the result is
either
some pieces that aren&rsquo;t square or small gaps between some
pieces.<br />




<h4>The Coordinate System, Basic Principles</h4>




The coordinate systems used in <i>Flight Simulator</i> are left-hand, 3-D, and
rectilinear. Objects are located in X,Y,Z 3-D space and are moved in
the X,Y, and Z directions using translation. The following table
describes how this directional translation of an object occurs in the
world as well as on the screen.<br />




<br />




<table class="T1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">




  <tbody>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      
      
      <h5>Dimension</h5>




      </td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      
      
      <h5>World movement</h5>




      </td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      
      
      <h5>Screen movement</h5>




      </td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">+X</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">West
to east&nbsp;</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Left
to right</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">+Y</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
Increasing altitude&nbsp;</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Bottom
to top</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">+Z</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">South
to north&nbsp;</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Into
the screen</td>




    </tr>




  
  
  
  </tbody>
</table>




<br />




<i>Flight Simulator</i> directional conventions include the following: <br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The surface of the earth is
laid out on the X-Z plane.<br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Northerly movement is in the
positive Z direction.<br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Easterly movement is in the
positive X direction.<br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Increasing altitude movement
is in the positive Y direction.<br />




&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; World directional movement
corresponds to
display screen directional movement when the viewer is facing north.
For example, an easternly moving object moves to the right across the
screen when the viewer is facing north.<br />




<br />




<i>Flight Simulator</i> uses Euler angles for rotations; first heading is
applied, then pitch, and finally bank. The following table describes
the rotational conventions.<br />




<table style="text-align: left; width: 400px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">




  <tbody>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      
      
      <h5>Rotation</h5>




      </td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      
      
      <h5>World rotation</h5>




      </td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">
      
      
      
      <h5>Screen rotation</h5>




      </td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">+Heading,
rotate about the Y-axis</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Rotate
to the right; 0&deg; is north</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Object
moves left as heading increases.</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">+Pitch,
rotate about the heading-rotated X-axis</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Nose
down</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Object
moves upward (+Y) as pitch increases.</td>




    </tr>




    <tr>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">+Bank,
rotate about the heading-rotated and pitched Z-axis&nbsp;</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">Rotate
counter-clockwise&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>




      <td align="undefined" valign="undefined">The
object rotates clockwise as bank increases.</td>




    </tr>




  
  
  
  </tbody>
</table>




<p><br />
  Directional translation and rotation are applied to objects before they
are projected. The order in which directional translation and rotation
are applied makes a difference because the rotations have the effect of
"rotating" the coordinate system. Translation and rotation are
performed in the following order: <br />
1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Translate X.<br />
2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Translate Y.<br />
3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Translate Z.<br />
4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rotate heading (about the Y-axis).<br />
5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rotate pitch (about the
heading-rotated X-axis).<br />
6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rotate bank (about the heading-rotated
and pitched Z-axis). </p>
<h2>  Appendix III: The Naming Convention for Terrain Textures <a name="AppendixIII" id="AppendixIII"></a></h2>
<p>  This section describes the naming convention used by <i>Flight Simulator</i>  for terrain (land based) textures. The textures are found in the <i>Microsoft Flight Simulator X/scenery/World/texture</i> folder. The naming convention follows the format:</p>
<h6>&nbsp;  </h6>
<h6>000X2SU1</h6>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table class="T1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="4">
  <tr>
    <td><h5>Name Element</h5></td>
    <td><h5>Description</h5></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>000</td>
    <td>The texture number (000, 001, and so on).</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>X</td>
    <td>Region (A through X), see <a href="#Regions">Regions</a>. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>2</td>
    <td>Reserved, must always be 2.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>SU</td>
    <td>Season, one of: spring (SP), summer (SU), fall (FA), winter (WI), hard winter (HW), night texture (LM), or Autogen annotation (AN). See <a href="#Seasons">Seasons</a>. </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>1</td>
    <td>Variation (1, 2, 3, and so on).</td>
  </tr>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><br />
</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p align="center">&copy; 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. </p>
<p align="center">~~@~~ </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p>




<p>&nbsp; </p>




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