Urban data management with a hybrid 3-D GIS

Abstract

With the development of modern cities, 3-D spatial information systems (SIS) are increasingly required for spatial planning, communication systems and other applications. The geometric information to be used in a spatial information system usually includes two types: vector data (such as buildings, traffic ways, waterways, trees, DTM, etc.) and raster data (such as orthophotos, original images from aerial or still video cameras, etc.). It is an important task to develop an information system which can integrate vector and raster data for the purpose of spatial data operations, queries, and analysis . In this paper, a self-developed 3-D data structure (V3D) is presented, in which the geometrical, topological, texture and thematic information is defined. Also, the configuration and implementation in a relational database will be investigated and we will report about a prototype system, the CyberCity Spatial Information System (CC-SIS). Accurate and complete data is the most valuable component of any information system. We will address a new method of semi-automatic photogrammetric data acquisition for the generation of 3-D city models. CyberCity Modeler (CC-Modeler) is a software which fits planar faces to photogrammetrically measured weakly structured point clouds of objects, thus generating CAD-compatible objects, like buildings, trees, waterways, roads, etc. Thus, CC-Modeler allows to generate major components of 3-D city models at very high production rate.