Contour line simplification method based on the two‐level Bellman–Ford algorithm

Abstract

AbstractThe contour line is one of the basic elements of a topographic map. Existing contour line simplification methods are generally applied to maps without topological errors. However, contour lines acquired from a digital elevation model (DEM) may contain topological errors before simplification. Targeted at contour lines with topological errors, a progressive simplification method based on the two‐level Bellman–Ford algorithm is proposed in this study. Simplified contour lines and elevation error bands were extracted from the DEM. The contour lines of the elevation error bands were initially simplified with the Bellman–Ford (BF) algorithm. The contour lines were then segmented using the vertices of the initial simplification result and connected curves with the same bending direction were merged into a new curve. Subsequently, various directed graphs of the merged curves were constructed and a second simplification was made using the BF algorithm. Finally, the simplification result was selected based on the similarity between several simplification results and adjacent contour lines. The experimental results indicate that the main shapes of the contour groups can be maintained with this method and original topological errors are resolved.