It sounds like you want 3d. I read a month ago that there is a simple  
OpenGL interface in the works -- but my life is too chaotic right now  
(and for the next 2 weeks) so I can't dig through archives to give you  
any leads.

Note that you can download free terrain/images from google maps. So  
those "texture" maps can be painted right on your 3d surface -- though  
perhaps not as simply as my words suggest.

Information on GPS mapping to absolute 3d is easy to finds online --  
perhaps this is your area of expertise. Google-maps also documents the  
mapping for their projections, if you choose to use them.

As to the Morphic you need to tap the experts. However, if you are  
going 3d, check that out first.

Cheers,
Cam

On Aug 30, 2009, at 7:57 PM, JohnReed Maffeo wrote:

> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The vision is to  
> create a virtual landscape from a combination of elevation data ie a  
> matrix of elevation points and planar features ie various lines that  
> identify roads, rivers, boundaries etc.