Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) (TIN)

A surface representation derived from irregularly spaced sample points and breakline features. The tin data set includes topological relationships between points and their neighboring triangles. Each sample point has an x,y coordinate and a surface, or z-value. These points are connected by edges to form a set of nonoverlapping triangles used to represent the surface. Tins are also called irregular triangular mesh or irregular triangular surface model.

A series of triangles constructed using elevation data points taken from coverages. These triangles are used for surface representation and display.