Integration of GIS and 3D data
On the 7th of November, in Helsinki exhibition centre took place the most important event for finnish GIS community- Paikkatietomarkkinat (Spatial Information Market). Every year, the GIS expo is an opportunity for experts and enthusiasts to hear the newest trends in their field and find out about novel industry’s products, services, and innovations. Just could not be a better chance to talk with GIS specialists about an integration of GIS and 3D data. So if the topic is interesting also for you, keep reading to find out more!
3D GIS
GIS professionals are unanimous that 3D data and GIS systems will become closely associated with one another over the next few years. Although nowadays there are some limitations that restrict the use of 3D information in GIS, it’s just a matter of time until we will turn to 3D GIS. There are numerable benefits in doing so. First and the most obvious reason is that it provides very realistic visualisations. But you would be mistaken if you think photo-realistic urban models have nothing more to offer. They are a great aid for complex city planning activities including flood modelling and visibility analysis for evaluating urban design. To put it briefly. they are widely used for simulation, urban planning, transportation, real estate.
Let’s look how 3D data impact urban mapping. There are different approaches to creating urban maps and building models in three dimensions. One of the alternatives relies on 3D data. In this case, buildings models are automatically constructed using height, volume and location information obtained from LiDAR or aerial imagery. The DTM is also an important part of any 3D map. It serves as a base for all buildings, roads and other objects in the area. And again sources for creating DTM are airborne LiDAR and aerial photography. You don’t have to look far for the example. Helsinki city has its own 3D model which is available as open data.
So what developments should we expect in the future? Definitely, we can look forward to increasing popularity of 3D models. At some point, they will become a standard for every city. And there are even more exciting perspectives ahead us. Eventually, with a help of holographic technology and mixed reality, the models will be brought out of the computer screen into devices like Microsoft HoloLens. Personally, I can’t wait to see it happen.
3D data capture
Data capture is an essential issue to consider in GIS. There are many methods for GIS data capturing such as digitalisation, surveying, remote sensing, LiDAR technology and photogrammetric techniques to name the most common ones. No wonder that the program of the GIS expo included the presentation (Demotori) of the most advanced hardware solutions for data capturing. The visitors could get to know the most recent developments in LiDAR and photogrammetric techniques. During Demotori the exhibitors presented among others GeoSLAM’s handheld laser scanner ZEB-REVO RT (Geotrim). Another novelty was Riegl’s innovative laser scanner VZ400i with integrated cloud computing (Nordic Geo Center). And that was not the only laser scanning-based solution. The guests were introduced to FARO Focus 3D X330 as well (Symetri). There was something for image capturing too-Matrice M210 drone (DroneFactory). Last but not least, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute (FGI) showed backpack mobile scanning system AkhkaR4D.
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