For a project in the pipeline I needed to create a map of the UK in a 3D, which included a realistic elevation data. I thought this would be pretty easy, just search in google for UK displacement map… well nothing much came up, not the greyscale kind of image I was after. After much research I stumbled across what I needed Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data. There are a few website out there that supply this data there are a few links on terrainmap.com, however it very difficult to extract and you need to assemble patches.

After much deliberation I managed to get a pretty good map (see image) with a resulting render. Its not perfect but it’s ok.

Render

Displacement Map