Gousie and Milewski '07 highlight errors in digital maps
Associate Professor of Computer Science Mike Gousie's research involving undergraduate students focuses on Surface Reconstruction - creating a 3D (actually 2.5D) surface from 2D sources, such as contour lines (isolines) or other sparse data arranged on a grid. The data is interpolated or otherwise used to create a digital elevation model (DEM). Many DEMs are constructed from less-than-perfect data, and along with the computations necessary to create the final surface, errors are inevitable. His research seeks to determine the severity of the error.
You recently published a research paper with undergraduate Sarah Milewski '07. Would you describe your newest effort?
There are many people who use digitized maps, from cartographers to geologists to city planners to utility companies. 
They typically use a Geographic Information System (GIS) to display maps and various associated data. It turns out that digital elevation models (DEMs), which are the underlying source for maps in a GIS, are often riddled with erroneous data. Sarah and I have implemented a system that allows one to visualize possible errors in such maps in three dimensions. One of the ways the software achieves such a visualization is to use various colors to indicate the severity of the error in a particular location.
Gousie, M. B. and Milewski, S. (2007). A System for 3D Error Visualization and Assessment of Digital Elevation Models. In Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS '07) (Barcelona).
How do others use your research?
There are many who rely on DEMs to do their work. Having an estimate of the error in a particular map means they can guage the accuracy of their own work. 
For example, a hydrologist working on flood mitigation needs to know how accurate the rivers and watershed areas are in a DEM. Dr. Mike Smith, a colleague at Kingston University in London with whom I work, is desperate for us to finish a Windows version of the software so that he can test the DEMs he uses for various cartographic and earth-science investigations, one of which is determining the volume of sediment left by retreating glaciers.
What have you been reading lately?
The book I'm currently reading is "A Peace to End All Peace" by David Fromkin. I like reading history, and this one is about the creation of the modern Middle East during the time of WWI. Whenever the news airs a story about the latest problems between Israel and the Palestinians, I've wondered how it all started. Hopefully, the book will give some answers.
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