A comparison of interpolation methods for estimating mountaintop removal

"This research compares interpolation methods used to create digital elevation models (DEM) for mountainous regions where mountaintop removal coal mining takes place. The research focused on the Frozen Hollow Surface Mine located in Boone County, West VA as the case study. Three interpolation methods were compared in order to create a DEM for premining conditions at the Frozen Hollow Surface Mine. The methods compared were Inverse Distance Weighted, Ordinary Kriging, and Spline with Tension. Topographic maps were used as the source of data for the sample points. Four sets of sample points were created using centroids from two grid sizes, 20m2 and 30m2, and comparing the use of single value cells (SVC) and multi value cells (MVC). This resulted in 12 interpolation methods in the study. The Spline with Tension method was statistically significant compared to the other methods in all four data sets. The interpolation method with the least amount of error was the Spline with Tension method using both the SVC & MVC from the 30m2 centroids."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.