Urban Energy Modelling

Semantic 3D City Data as Virtual and Augmented Reality

The visualisation of results from urban energy modelling and simulation is a crucial part of energy research as it is the main communication tool among scientists, engineers and decision-makers. Energy modelling and simulation results are directly linked to spatial objects and 3D therefore becomes a necessity. Multiple interactive 3D visualisation environments exist, such as Esri’s City Engine or CESIUM web globe. However, these applications are mainly targeted as 3D viewers for use on desktop machines and lack immersive components that enable users to truly immerse themselves, explore and interact with the real environment on-site. In this study, the team focused... (read more)

2017-11-23 10:24:29

REDD Deforestation Modelling Video

Clark Labs of Clark University has added a new video to the video series on its website. This latest video, entitled REDD Deforestation Modelling with Land Change Modeller in IDRISI, introduces the new REDD modelling feature tool included in the latest release of IDRISI, the Selva Edition. This video demonstrates how to model baseline land cover change and to predict future scenarios, as well as how these scenarios will impact projected GHG emissions through the implementation of a REDD project. A REDD project proposal, or the Project Design Document submitted to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Organization, requires maps and... (read more)

2012-03-05 10:31:13

Lidar and Sound Modelling

Improving Existing Propagation Models

Simulation of sound propagation is key for today’s urbanised society, in which sound is omnipresent and often negatively affects people’s lives. Existing methods of sound-propagation modelling fail to capture the complexity of terrain. Airborne Lidar in conjunction with aerial photos is able to fill this gap. The authors propose a programme of research to find out how high-resolution terrain data might improve the efficiency of sound models. Sound propagation is affected by obstructing objects such as buildings and trees, and influenced by the relative location of sound source and receiver, type of intermediate ground and meteorological conditions. Computation of sound... (read more)

2007-08-11 12:00:00

Modelling REDD Baselines

Clark Labs has recently published a Focus Paper on modeling REDD baselines with the Land Change Modeller application in their IDRISI GIS and Image Processing software. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is a climate change mitigation strategy for the protection and maintenance of forests that has gained momentum with conservation organisations, project developers and governments in developing countries. As forests play a major role in the sequestration of carbon, especially tropical forests, REDD offers great potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offset payments, based on an assigned financial value for the likely carbon storage capacity of... (read more)

2010-07-02 10:05:14

Geospatial Analysis and Modelling

The development of GIS and carto-graphy can be characterised as information rich and knowledge poor. That is, the amount of geospatial information collected using geospatial technologies, including remote sensing, global positioning systems and digital mapping technology, has been growing rapidly, whereas geospatial knowledge or ‘useful information’, for decision making in terms of real-world problem solving is rather limited. Terabytes of geospatial information in the form of satellite imagery, aerial photos and maps have been integrated into Google Maps and Google Earth so that ordinary people using a decent internet-connected home computer can zoom from space right down to street level... (read more)

2006-11-20 12:00:00

Modelling Facade Geometry

Facade Recognition Using Mobile Laser Scanner Data

Due to the rapid changes of urbanisation, up-to-date, complex and realistic building models enriched with facade features are increasingly in demand in many countries. The Mobile Laser Scanning technique is progressively being used to capture objects in urban settings and it is becoming a leading source for modelling of facade geometry. This article describes an efficient and cost-effective method for automatically extracting and recognising building-facade features from a complex city environment using MLS point clouds. Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) is a state-of-the-art technology for accurately and densely capturing the 3D geometry of various objects as 3D point clouds over large... (read more)

2013-10-28 02:03:48

Reality Modelling Goes Mainstream

At Bentley System’s annual conference for infrastructure thought leaders, CEO Greg Bentley presented a keynote speech. He stated that since Bentley Systems’ acquisition and assimilation of ContextCapture software in 2015, the proliferation of reality modelling across users’ projects – and across Bentley’s software portfolio – guarantees that it will become a mainstream contributor to infrastructure project delivery and asset performance. Reality modelling describes the potentially continuous capture of infrastructure assets’ as-operated conditions for processing into engineering-ready reality meshes, and their 'enlivening' for immersive interaction. To date, reality modeling has processed digital photos acquired from ground-level and/or aerial photography, and in particular from... (read more)

2016-11-02 10:16:39

Infrastructure Modelling Software

Autodesk's new Infrastructure Modelling software products facilitates users in utilities, telecommunications organisations and government agencies improve the design and management of their infrastructure. Autodesk's portfolio of products - including AutoCAD Map 3D 2010, AutoCAD Raster Design 2010, Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise 2010, and Autodesk Topobase 2010 - provide users with a solution for designing, visualising, simulating and analysing infrastructure assets and development plans. In a recent live webcast, Jay Bhatt, Autodesk senior vice president for AEC Solutions, addressed technology's critical role in the design and management of infrastructure. Autodesk Infrastructure Modelling technologies facilitates aggregating multiple sources of data from... (read more)

2009-03-09 03:34:00

Automated Modelling of Tunnels

From Point Clouds to Cross-sectional Dimensions

Tunnels must be regularly monitored to meet safety requirements and to prevent excessive deformation or displacement. Tunnels are currently monitored by measuring a few benchmarks using total stations or other surveying instruments. These techniques are effective and precise, but also slow and expensive. In the case of rail tunnels, for example, the regular train schedule is disrupted whenever land surveyors have to operate inside the tunnel. This article presents a novel automated method for the geometric modelling of tunnels from mobile Lidar point clouds with sub-millimetre precision. The models can be employed for maintenance, project management and enhancement of future... (read more)

2017-08-17 10:06:13

Modelling the Erechteion

Extracting Information from Very Large Datasets

Modern terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) generate between 10 and 50 million 3D coordinates per minute: about 500Mbytes of data. Together with high-resolution images for texturing purposes, this is enough information to choke high-end PCs running commercial software. The National Research Council in Canada has developed a framework for extracting information from very large TLS and imagery datasets, an evolution demonstrated in the Erechtheion project. This monument has been modelled in 3D to a spatial resolution of 2mm. The fully textured 3D model containing 348 million polygons can be interactively visualised and analysed in real time. Creation of an accurate... (read more)

2009-12-04 11:26:58