Storing and Visualising Dynamic Data in the Context of Energy Analysis in the Smart Cities

Abstract

AbstractThere is increased activity in developing workflows and implementations in the context of urban energy analysis simulation based on 3D city models in smart cities. At the University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart (HFT Stuttgart), an urban energy simulation platform called ‘SimStadt’ has successfully been developed. It uses the CityGML 3D city model to simulate the heat demand, photovoltaic potential, and other scenarios that provide dynamic simulation results in both space and time dimensions. Accordingly, a tool for managing dynamic data of the CityGML models is required. Earlier, the CityGML Application Domain Extension (ADE) had been proposed to support additional attributes of the CityGML model; however, there is still a lack of open-source tools and platforms to manage and distribute the CityGML ADE data efficiently. This article evaluates and compares alternative methods to manage dynamic simulation results of the 3D city model and visualise these data on the 3D web-based smart city application, including the use of SimStadt web services, databases, and OGC SensorThings API standard.