Read Me First * What versions of Flight Simulator does this terrain work with?

I have tested the SRTM terrain set with FS2002. It is fully compatible with FS2000 and FS2004 because all three versions share the same basic terrain definition. However, I have not tested the terrain with FS2000 or FS2004 so I can't guarantee it'll work, although I have received many emails from users who are successfully using it in FS2004. * How do I install the SRTM terrain? 1. Create a folder for each section in the Flight Simulator scenery folder. For example, create a folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FS2002\Scenery\SRTM-NA. In this folder, create another \Scenery folder. Unzip all the downloaded files that start with 'NA' into this folder. Thus, you should end up with a path like C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FS2002\Scenery\SRTM-NA\Scenery\NA01N10W110.bgl. 2. In FS, select Scenery Library from the World menu. 3. Click 'Add Area'. Browse to the SRTM-NA folder you've just created and select it. 4. Type a Scenery area title. For example, "SRTM North America". 5. Choose 'Cache this scenery' or 'Use this scenery area directly'. See below for a discussion on using the scenery for advantages and disadvantages to both options. 6. Click 'OK', then the check mark to exit the scenery library. Wait for FS to compile the new scenery. * What do the file names mean? File names refer to the latitude and longitude of the lower left corner of the tile - e.g. N37W105 has its lower left corner at 37 degrees north latitude and 105 degrees west longitude. To simplify downloading, I've added a two-digit prefix to each tile that is shown on the reference map. * What computer equipment does this terrain require? You need a fast processor, a lot of memory, a high-end video card (with a lot of memory) and a fast hard drive system. I have a 1GHz P3 with 512MB of memory, an nVidia GeForce2 Pro video card with 64MB of memory, and an average hard drive. It's a 2001-vintage system. This computer is too slow to render the SRTM terrain in full detail at reasonable frame rates. The FS2002 rendering engine attempts to maintain a target frame rate, and discards more and more detail until it reaches the target. The simulator freezes for several seconds whenever I fly over a tile boundary and the system has to load another tile. About the only system

I've tried that had an acceptable tile load time while in flight was a computer with SCSI RAID striping. Very expensive. You may find that only a top performance gaming computer will render the SRTM terrain in full detail. There are ways to improve the frame rate. You can reduce the quality settings in the Display configuration dialog box. However, that sort of defeats the purpose of having high-resolution scenery. I tend to leave the quality settings at the Very Dense end of the scale. You can set the visibility to about 20 miles in the Weather dialog box. This gives a better frame rate while still allowing you to see far enough to appreciate the terrain details. If you cache the scenery (see step 5 in the Installation) the video will be a lot smoother. Without caching FS accesses the hard drive continuously and you get jerky video. This might be OK for you if you have a very fast hard drive, but I find that caching is the only way to get acceptable frame rates. Unfortuately, caching forces FS to load large sections of scenery all in one go. You'll be flying along at high speed and low altitude, ducking in and out of canyons, and all of a sudden the computer freezes while the next section of scenery loads. On my laptop, this takes so long I can go and make myself a cup of coffee and be back before it's done. Of course, all of a sudden you're back flying again. Since you've let go the controls (to get that cup of coffee) the plane crashes into a canyon wall. This loading & caching problem is not too bad when you're maintaining a constant heading, flying in a straight line (especially if you're going due north, south, east or west). The problem is most severe when you're in a tight turn. * How good is the original data? Here's what NASA has to say: "The SRTM-1 and SRTM-3 are preliminary terrain height data sets distributed for evaluation by the research and applications user community. They contain numerous artifacts, and are not intended for use in navigation or other critical, operations-related applications. They are unedited, and may contain numerous voids (regions with no data) and other spurious point such as anomalously high ('spike') or low ('well') values. Coastlines of water bodies are typically not well delineated and may not appear 'flat'." I have filled in all the voids by averaging and interpolating nearby valid data points. This produces smooth, seamless terrain (i.e. no unexpected chasms) but the interpolated data is a best guess. For most of the voids the interpolation is quite accurate and produces elevation data that is very close to the real thing. However, about 10% of the land area has widespread voids where interpolation will only produce a visually pleasing result, not accurate terrain. In particular, removing voids in river valleys in mountain areas sometimes produces strange results, often leaving the rivers with many structures that look like dams.

Some lakes and other FS 'flat' objects (such as airports) may be at a different altitude from the SRTM data. These will appear sunken or raised, as craters or mesas. Some areas (not many) suffer from the 'spike' or 'well' problems * There is a bug/defect/problem with the SRTM terrain at location X. When will you fix it? What you see is what you get. I don't plan to make any updates to any of the files. If there is a problem with the terrain somewhere, it's there to stay. Use at your own risk. Eventually the US Government will release a polished version of the data, with all voids and anomalies corrected. At that point I'll probably produce a complete new version of terrain based on the updated data. That's several years in the future though, so don't hold your breath. * I try to download file X and get an error. Where is the file? It's still there. Try again later. The load on the web server may be heavy enough to cause your computer to time out. The webmaster may also move files around on the server. Don't assume that the files will still be in the same place 12 months later. Go to the home page and follow the links. * This is too much to download. Will you mail me a CD or DVD set? Sure. For US$30 paid through PayPal I will send you the complete SRTM terrain set on thirteen CDs or two DVD+Rs, by regular mail anywhere in the continental USA or Canada. For US$40 I will send the set by airmail anywhere else in the world not banned by US export restrictions. * When are you going to answer the email I sent you? I've posted the SRTM terrain for free as a service to the FlightSim community. I get too little time to actually fly my Sim, let alone type out emails. This means that for the most part you won't get a reply from me if you email me about the terrain. I do read all the emails I receive. I just don't reply to most of them. However, I do respond well to bribes of money, products or services! * Can I post this scenery on my own website? This scenery compilation is Copyright (c) 2004 Stephen Rothlisberger, and is exclusively hosted by Simviation.com. You may use this scenery for free. You may not distribute nor charge any fee for using this scenery without written permission from Stephen Rothlisberger. You are solely responsible for the consequences of your use, misuse or abuse of these files. I will not be liable for any such consequences. Stephen Rothlisberger stephen@rothlis.net