Topographic carving is the process of creating a three-dimensional representation of a landscape's terrain features, such as mountains, valleys, and plains, typically from materials like wood or plastic, using tools such as a CNC machine.
Perhaps you live near a mountain, gorge or cottage at a lake. Maybe your neck of the woods has many lakes amidst undulating hills and valleys. Using satelitte data, your locale can be reproduced, first digitally, then into wood. Neat stuff!