Contour lines represent the nature of ground in 3d map format. Land Surveyors and Civil Engineers know the importance of topographic contour map during construction project planning and execution. Accurate contour generation can be useful to realize the current terrain condition and to plan the future development activities.
AutoPlotter is a CAD software that can easily create a contour map in which contour interval is given by the user. Final CAD drawing can be saved into any standard cad application format, or it can be directly printed if required.
In this contour mapping software, there are 3 types of definition. The first one is based on contour interval definition. The software displays the starting RL from the elevation data. One or more groups can be defined as per contour interval on topographic map. Each group can be displayed with different colours. The second type of definition is based on range of elevations. That means, for the entire survey data, multiple elevation ranges can be defined for easy identification of ground profile on terrain maps. Apart from these two types, it is possible to define individual contour elevation lines for the given RL.
In this CAD application software, properties of the contour lines can be set to meet various functional requirements. It is possible to assign different linetypes for the contours. Contours can be generated in different drawing layers as per the type of definition. Smooth contour can be obtained by selecting the most appropriate equation.
Group based Contours
Range based Contours
3d contour lines can be labelled to display contour level so that the contour lines map is easily read and visualized. Apart from the usual way to label the contours at end or along the path, in AutoPlotter contours can even be annotated at line intersections and at selected locations on contour.
Sometimes, it is required to limit the cad contour lines within a boundary or to draw the contours outside the boundary. Include / Exclude boundary option along with breaklines give user all the required control to generate contour map in such a way that it represents the actual ground to the closest.
Contours with boundary filters
All the functionalities are carried out based on DTM surface that is created after survey data is imported. AutoPlotter, the contour mapping software gives flexibility to edit the surface itself which can be useful for more precise works. Points can be easily added or deleted or even the sequence of TIN creation can be altered to achieve the desired results.
