THE APPLICATION OF THE METHODOLOGY TO DEFINE TERRAIN PASSABILITY ON A DETAILED LEVEL IN VARIOUS CONFIGURATIONS

Abstract

The article presents a complete methodology to determine terrain passability as well as its application based on various configurations of input data. The methodology was developed with the use of the methods that had been created by the authors in their previous research projects. The determination of terrain passability consists of two stages: The first stage involves conducting the analysis of micro-relief with the aim to identify impassable spots in the area, while the second stage consists in determining the route for a specific vehicle that will avoid the existing obstacles formed by the micro-relief. Both these analyses generate results based only on a detailed digital terrain model (with a resolution of 1 m) and the traction parameters of the vehicles for which terrain passability is determined. One of the processes that are part of this methodology is the generalisation of the digital terrain model, which significantly improves the efficiency of the performed calculations. Test results demonstrated that the presented methodology enables successful automated generation of passability maps for specific vehicles and the creation of routes for such vehicles. The routes differ depending on the type of vehicle, which results directly from the fact that vehicles have different traction parameters. Nevertheless, the test results were satisfactory and demonstrated that the developed methodology may be applied by bodies that are responsible for planning military operations or crisis management activities.