Sample of the contours without smoothing/generalisation which could be too detailed for the 1:500,000 scale but you can get the idea.
Here you can see the difference between the generated contours and applying some smoothing, of course the smoothing is just for display for analysis you will use the DTM
There are several ways you can do contours for 1:500,000
You could trace topographic maps I actually remember doing this and it was boring. Take in mind the quality of the data is that of the original one.
You can use a DTM, for example SRTM, ASTER or any that you have. Take care to check the DTM complies with the requirement you are looking for. For 1:500,000 SRTM 30 m is more than enough.
Load the data in any GIS and then use a function to extract contours. Contours generally for aviation are to be presented every 1000ft interval, less than that doesn't really makes sense. Contours may benefit from some smoothing and generalisation to be shown as such a scale. Together with tints on the DTM and overlaying over a hillshade you can create a very interesting effect.
When generating the contours usually DTM are in meters so you will take 1000ft *0.3048 = 304.8 m and that will be the contour interval.
If you are using QGIS then you load the DTM and execute the following commands
In my case I used a temporary layers as output, you will need to specify where to save the file. 304.8 m was used as I know SRTM is in m and I want 1000ft contour interval
Sample of the contours without smoothing/generalisation which could be too detailed for the 1:500,000 scale but you can get the idea.
Here you can see the difference between the generated contours and applying some smoothing, of course the smoothing is just for display for analysis you will use the DTM
There are several ways you can do contours for 1:500,000
You could trace topographic maps I actually remember doing this and it was boring. Take in mind the quality of the data is that of the original one.
You can use a DTM, for example SRTM, ASTER or any that you have. Take care to check the DTM complies with the requirement you are looking for. For 1:500,000 SRTM 30 m is more than enough.
Load the data in any GIS and then use a function to extract contours. Contours generally for aviation are to be presented every 1000ft interval, less than that doesn't really makes sense. Contours may benefit from some smoothing and generalisation to be shown as such a scale. Together with tints on the DTM and overlaying over a hillshade you can create a very interesting effect.
When generating the contours usually DTM are in meters so you will take 1000ft *0.3048 = 304.8 m and that will be the contour interval.
If you are using QGIS then you load the DTM and execute the following commands
In my case I used a temporary layers as output, you will need to specify where to save the file. 304.8 m was used as I know SRTM is in m and I want 1000ft contour interval