004] Global Mapper - Creating Terrain Path Profiles (Cross-Sections)

Let's begin the Path Profile tutorial. As I mentioned before, we're just doing a quick overview. Since we are continuing from the previous session, you can open the file you were working on.

"Before we begin, if you missed the previous session, check it out here:"

003] Global Mapper - Terrain Analysis, DEM Creation, and Raster Reclassification

First, we need to draw the line where the terrain section will be generated. Select the pencil-shaped icon (Digitizer Tool) from the top icon menu.

Right-click on the main screen and select Create Line Features -> LINE.

Left-click at Position 1 - Left-click at Position 2 - Left-click at Position 3 - and then Right-click at Position 4.

Once the line is drawn, the following window will appear:

Click the list box in the Feature Layer menu and select <Create New Layer for Feature>. This means we are creating a new layer to put the object we just made into.

Type "Line" (or '라인') and click OK. Now, a layer named "Line" appears in the Control Center, and you can see the line on the terrain.

The color of the line might be a bit faint, so let's change it to make it more visible. I've changed mine to black. We covered how to change colors in the last session.

Now, select the line segment. Click the pencil icon again or press the ESC key to switch to edit mode. After selecting the line you just drew, right-click and choose Analysis/Measurement -> PATH PROFILE.

A new window will pop up showing the terrain section like this:

Wait, do you see those vertical black lines? Those black lines represent the contour lines registered in the Control Center. Wherever the Path Profile line you drew intersects with a contour line, it marks it vertically. It looks messy, so let's get rid of them.

Close the Path Profile window and turn off the contour layer in the Control Center.

Now, select the line again and execute PATH PROFILE once more.

Now it looks much cleaner. The point where you first started drawing the line is on the left. The yellow dots in the middle represent the vertices where the line segments bend. This is how Global Mapper generates terrain sections.

"Wait, what do I use this for?" you might ask...

If you select Path Setup - Path Profile Settings... from the top menu of the Path Profile window, you can configure various options.

We will dive into these detailed settings once we finish our general overview. My "prelude" was longer than the actual tutorial today! That's all for now~

"In the next session, we'll dive deeper into more advanced features. Stay tuned!"

[010] DEM Arithmetic: Combine/Compare Terrain Layers

005] Global Mapper - Viewshed Analysis