29 
REVIEW OF THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE APPLICATION OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY 
AND DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL TO EARTH DESIGN IN JAPAN 
  
  
by Dr Shunji Murai | 
Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo 
INTRODUCTION 
The report submitted herein deals with the research activities con- 
cerning the application of photogrammetry and digital terrain model 
to earth design in Japan between 1972 and 1976, though the reques- 
ted title has been limited to application of photogrammetry to 
highway and railway design. 
Applications of photogrammetry to highway and railway design and 
their automated design have not been improved, rather depressed, 
compared with those before 1972, mainly because of constraints due 
to people movement, while application of photogrammetry and digi- 
tal terrain model to land development for residential area has been 
remarkably developed. 
General background such as increase in man power cost and size of 
plan, requires civil engineer to develop the digital terrain model 
system for land evaluation and automated design. 
Photogrammetry and digital terrain model will also be useful in the 
phase of environmental assessment. A new conception of management 
of land resources, that is, belongings to land such as topograhy, 
soil, vegetation, water, landscape and so on, will be interesting: 
as a new field of application of photogrammetry and digital terrain 
model to environmental problems. 
HIGHWAY AND RAILWAY DESIGN 
A free choise of route location given to civil engineer is decreasing 
due to the environmental problems. Especially, problems of noise, 
pollution and forest destruction are quite serious, so that opti- 
mization of highway and railway design subject to minimum cost 
will not be of interest for the civil engineer. 
Environmental survey and investigation using aerial photography has 
recently become very important in Japan. Environmental assessment 
requires a new application of photogrammetry. 
However, automation for calculation of earth work volume and its 
drafting has been progressed, though this is notan ideal application 
of DTM. Automated designs and drafting for bridge and retaining 
wals are quite available on the commercial base. The software Sys- 
tems are standardized for each of different orders such as highway 
corporation, national railway, ministry of construction and so on.