Terrain, maps, and more

This site started out as a resource for cartographers creating shaded relief, panoramas, land cover, and related raster art on maps. It has since grown to include my other cartographic interests and has become a repository for my maps, all of which are in the public domain.

I hope that you enjoy the site.

Tom Patterson   Bio

New stuff

Last update: April 6, 2026

From Airbrush to AI: My Career in Cartographic Relief Presentation

A Library of Congress presentation about my career as a terrain artist for the US National Park Service. I discuss major milestones in NPS relief presentation over the last 50 years.

Physical Features of Europe

The latest addition to my physical map series with over 3,400 labels. Base map elements, including shaded relief, bathymetry, land cover, coast lines, lakes, rivers, and country boundaries, derive from Natural Earth v. 6.0.

Creating AI-enhanced 3D scenes with NSD Pro 10

AI enhancement is the marquee feature in NSD Pro 10. You can transform nondescript 3D scenes created from geospatial data to beautiful and often surprisingly accurate photo-realistic scenes. Gemini or OpenAI API keys are required.

Interview: Hawaii Public Radio

The conversation starts with my student days at the University of Hawaii, where I learned about shaded relief, the cartographic art form that became the focus of my career. We then discuss the mapping of Hawaii’s National Parks.

Emerald Pools, Zion National Park

It was bound to happen. This is my first AI enhanced map made with a beta version of Natural Scene Designer Pro 10. A simple text prompt transformed a nondescript 3D view consisting of geospatial data to a photorealistic background image.

Additional maps ...

Free maps and data!

Shaded Relief