DTM to NURBS—A Parametric Approach to Landscape Modeling for an Environmentally-Conscious Design

Domenico D’Uva,Federico Eugeni

doi:10.3390/su13042379

Abstract

This research aims to develop a methodology for geometric analysis of the territory, which, by means of a specially designed digital tool, allows quantitative assessments useful for drawing up sustainability policies. The difficulty of working with this type of procedure is the sectorialisation of technical skills among those who deal with design at the architectural scale and those who work at territorial scale. The undertaken methodology establishes a workflow that can export data from a GIS tool and import it into a three-dimensional modeler. To do this you need an intermediate tool, a parametric software. The explained procedure aims to have maximum freedom of model geometries processing. Therefore, it has been based on Nurbs mathematical models. The application tested with this is the solar radiation analysis in the territory of Ortona, Italy, on the Adriatic coast. Starting from the cartographic data of the Abruzzo Region, the three-dimensional model has been developed and it has built a base for further analysis. This working methodology ensures efficient results with a low amount of human iteration to generate the final model. Some of the procedure’s limitations have been explained in detail, mainly due to the structure of the used components.

Highlights

The premises that gave rise to this research work are the clear division between the modelling at architectural scale and modeling at territorial scale
The analysis of solar radiation, the case study of this work, is conducted on the individual building with instruments that work at the architectural scale
A first simple step forward is the possibility to coordinate the three-dimensional model with a georeferenced texture of the territory to get a photorealistic model of the landscape whose precision is limited only by the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) mesh pitch

Summary

Introduction

The premises that gave rise to this research work are the clear division between the modelling at architectural scale and modeling at territorial scale. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2379 data to have a single system that provides results of acceptable precision at all levels of investigation Based on these considerations and data available on the individual territories, it was considered appropriate to begin the acquisition of the territorial data from which it has been possible to deduce information that will be integrated with the data of the built environment at the urban scale (Figure 1). On the contrary, it is possible to make an estimate of an entire built-up area, because the precision of the data extrapolated from the territorial databases allows a useful characterisation for various analyses closely linked to geometry. The methods described above have been used in Ortona (Italy), which was chosen as the case study area

Research

Issues and Future Development

Conclusions