Creation of optimized terrain databases

A computer-based system including a processor and an associated memory, said system operable for generating an optimal terrain database for at least one region by executing a plurality of program modules, the program modules comprising:

• a region/test region selection module operable for user selection of a test region having at least one terrain quality characteristic;
• a quality attribute module that generates elevation error margins for a first set of terrain data collected using a first terrain data collection method based on a second set of terrain data collected using a second collection method;
• a safety margin module that determines a safety margin for the test region from the elevation error margins for the first set of terrain data;
• and
• a correlation module that applies the safety margin for the test region to one or more other regions having terrain quality characteristics similar to the test region to create an optimized terrain database for the one or more other regions, the set of terrain data for the one or more other regions collected utilizing the first terrain data collection method.

A computer-readable medium forming an optimized terrain database having stored thereon a data structure, comprising:

• a first set of terrain data;
• and
• a safety envelope applied to the first set of terrain data, wherein the safety envelope is created by comparing the first set of terrain data collected utilizing a first terrain data collection method to a second set of terrain data collected utilizing a second terrain data collection method, wherein:
• the first set of terrain data includes data for a plurality of defined regions within the optimized terrain database;
• the first and second sets of terrain data are compared for a first defined region to generate elevation error margins and define an optimized terrain model for the first defined region;
• and
• the safety envelope is applied to the first set of terrain data for a second defined region to create an optimized terrain database for the second defined region, provided that the first and second defined regions have similar characteristics.