@Override
    public void write(JmeExporter ex) throws IOException {
        // the mesh is removed, and reloaded when read() is called
        // this reduces the save size to 10% by not saving the mesh
        Mesh temp = getMesh();
        mesh = null;

        super.write(ex);
        OutputCapsule oc = ex.getCapsule(this);
        oc.write(size, "size", 16);
        oc.write(totalSize, "totalSize", 16);
        oc.write(quadrant, "quadrant", (short)0);
        oc.write(stepScale, "stepScale", Vector3f.UNIT_XYZ);
        oc.write(offset, "offset", Vector3f.UNIT_XYZ);
        oc.write(offsetAmount, "offsetAmount", 0);
        //oc.write(lodCalculator, "lodCalculator", null);
        //oc.write(lodCalculatorFactory, "lodCalculatorFactory", null);
        oc.write(lodEntropy, "lodEntropy", null);
        oc.write(geomap, "geomap", null);

        setMesh(temp);
    }
This most definitely is not optimized.
jme3-terrain/src/main/java/com/jme3/terrain/geomipmap/TerrainPatch.java