Posted by Rick Baldridge on June 04, 2003 at 10:51:58:
If you've ever tried to match up crash report photos to topographic features to get bearing and distance, you know how difficult it can be sometimes. I recently purchased NATURAL SCENE DESIGNER (about $130 US) that renders USGS DEM models with very intuitive controls and makes it VERY easy to match up features with report photos. I've been able to locate three wrecksites to within 100 yards estimated (more about that later when I do the field-work this weekend) with help from this software. I highly recommend it! For $20, you can get CDs with ready-to-use DEMs for several states. I got CA and NV which covers all my normal territory. Saves a bunch of foot work!
I'll post some sample screen-shots a bit later.