A method and apparatus are provided for automatically generating a terrain model
for display during a simulated flight along a predefined mission route. The apparatus
includes a mission profiler that automatically determines the area containing the
mission route for which the terrain source data is required and the respective
resolution of different regions within the area. The apparatus also includes an
apparatus for automatically collecting the terrain source data including a search
engine for automatically searching electronic collections of terrain source data
to identify terrain source data covering the area containing the mission route.
The apparatus also includes an image engine for processing the terrain source data
into one or more predefined formats and a terrain engine for automatically compiling
the processed data to create a terrain model for display during flight simulation.
