Spatial Data Modelling for 3D GIS

Alias Abdul-Rahman · Morakot Pilouk

Spatial Data Modelling

for 3D GIS

ABC
Dr. Alias Abdul-Rahman Dr. Morakot Pilouk
Department of Geoinformatics ESRI
Faculty of Geoinformation 380 New York Street
Science and Engineering Redlands 92373-8100
Skudai 81310 USA
Johor mpilouk@esri.com
Malaysia
alias@fksg.utm.my

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007932286

ISBN 978-3-540-74166-4 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York

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Preface

This book is based on research works done by the authors at the University
of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom and the International Institute for
GeoInformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands in
2000 and 1996 respectively. We were motivated to write the book when
we began a joint research work in 1992 for our postgraduate theses on Dig-
ital Terrain Modelling (DTM) data structuring and eventually DTM soft-
ware development based on triangular irregular network (TIN) data struc-
ture. We realized then that many aspects needed to be addressed especially
if an advanced geo information system (GIS) such as 3D GIS system was
to be realized. Research in 3D GIS is getting growing in interest and this
has really motivated us to do more experiments in the 3D domain. One of
the most current interesting issues is spatial data modelling for 3D GIS.
We would like to thank our former supervisors, Dr Jane Drummond of
University of Glasgow and Dr Klaus Tempfli of ITC. Various helps re-
ceived from friends and colleagues at both institutions are also acknowl-
edged. Special thanks go to Mohamad Hasif Nasaruddin, a postgraduate
student at the Dept of Geoinformatics, Faculty of Geoinformation Science
and Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor, Malaysia
for his patient in formatting the manuscript.
This book aims to introduce a framework for spatial data modelling for
3D GIS and it is specifically written for GIS postgraduate level courses.
Postgraduate students, researchers, and professionals in Geo Information
(GI) science community may find this book useful and it may provide
some insights in various spatial data modeling problems. We hope that this
book will serve as one of the useful resources in 3D GIS or 3D geoinfor-
mation research.

Alias Abdul-Rahman (UTM, Johor, Malaysia)

Morakot Pilouk (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA)

2007
Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Why Does 3D GIS Matter? 1
1.2 The Needs for 3D GIS 3
1.3 The Need for 3D Spatial Data Modeling 7
1.4 Problems Associated with Spatial Modelling
for 3D GIS 9
1.5 Previous Work 10
1.6 Background to the 3D GIS Problem 13

Chapter 2 An Overview of 3D GIS Development 15

2.1 GIS Functions 15
2.2 3D GIS 16
2.3 Recent Progress Made on 3D GIS 17
2.4 Commercially Available Systems and 3D GIS 18
2.4.1 ArcView 3D Analyst 18
2.4.2 Imagine VirtualGIS 19
2.4.3 GeoMedia Terrain 20
2.4.4 PAMAP GIS Topographer 21
2.5 Why is 3D GIS Difficult to Realise? 22
2.6 Discussion 23

Chapter 3 2D and 3D Spatial Data Representations 25

3.1 Introduction 25
3.2 Classes of Object Representations 26
3.2.1 Grid 26
3.2.2 Shape Model 27
3.2.3 Facet Model 28
3.2.4 Boundary Representation (B-rep) 30
3.2.5 3D Array 32
3.2.6 Octree 33
3.2.7 Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) 34
3.2.8 3D TIN (Tetrahedral network, TEN) 35
3.3 GIS Applicability of the Representations 37
3.4 The Selection Criteria 38
3.4.1 Representation of Object Primitives 38
VIII CONTENTS

3.4.2 Topology of Spatial Objects:

Simplexes and Complexes 40
3.5 Vector and Raster Representations 41
3.6 Summary 42

Chapter 4 The Fundamentals of Geo-Spatial Modelling 43

4.1 Spatial Data 44
4.2 Spatial Data Modeling 44
4.3 Models and Their Importance for Geoinformation 45
4.4 Components of Geo-spatial Model 47
4.5 Phases in Geo-spatial Modeling 48
4.6 Conceptual Design of a Geo-spatial Model 50
4.6.1 Definition of Space 51
4.6.2 Abstraction of Space 52
4.6.3 Abstraction of Real World Object 53
4.6.4 Object and Spatial Extent 57
4.6.5 Spatial Relations 57
4.6.6 Application of Spatial Relations 62
4.6.7 Representation of Spatial Objects
and Relationships 65
4.6.8 Spatial Data Models in GIS 73
4.7 Logical Design of Geo-spatial Model 78
4.7.1 Relational Approach 79
4.7.2 Object-oriented Approach 81
4.8 Summary 85

Chapter 5 The Conceptual Design 87

5.1 TIN-based (2.5D) Data Model 87
5.2 Properties of the TIN-based Data Model 90
5.3 TEN-based Data Model 94
5.4 Generalized n-dimensional Integrated Data Model 97
5.4.1 The Definitions 98
5.5 Single-theme and Multi-theme 101
5.6 Euler’s Characteristics 102
5.6.1 Euler’s Equality 103
5.6.2 The Generalized Euler Equality 104
5.7 Discussion 107
 CONTENTS IX

Chapter 6 The Logical Design 109

6.1 Relational Approach 109
6.1.1 Relational Data Structure for
TIN-based Model 110
6.1.2 Relational Data Structure for a
TEN-based Model 112
6.1.3 Relational Data Structure
for an n-dimensional Data Model 115
6.2 Object-oriented Approach 116
6.2.1 Object-oriented Definition of a
Spatial Object 117
6.2.2 Object-oriented Design Based on IDM 118
6.2.3 Specialization of Classes 120
6.2.4 Aggregation of Objects 125
6.2.5 Creation of Objects 126
6.2.6 Behaviour of Objects in the Database 128
6.2.7 Comparison with Other OO Approaches 129
6.3 Discussion 130

Chapter 7 Object-Orientation of TINS Spatial Data 133

7.1 Introduction 133
7.2 Object-oriented Concepts 133
7.2.1 The Abstraction Mechanisms 134
7.2.2 The Programming Language 136
7.3 Object-oriented TIN Tessellations 136
7.3.1 Classes for 2D TIN Tessellations 136
7.3.2 Classes for 3D TIN Tessellations 140
7.4 Object-oriented TINS Spatial Data Modelling 140
7.4.1 The Classes Schema 140
7.5 Object-oriented TIN Spatial Database
Development 146
7.5.1 The POET OO DBMS 146
7.5.2 The POET Database Schema 147
7.5.3 The POET Database Browser 148
7.5.4 POET Database Query 148
7.6 Object-oriented TIN-based Subsystems
for GIS 149
7.7 Summary 150
X CONTENTS

Chapter 8 The Supporting Algorithms 153

8.1 Introduction 153
8.2 Distance Transformation 153
8.3 Voronoi Tessellations 158
8.4 Triangulations (TINs) 163
8.4.1 TIN Topological Data Structuring 168
8.5 Visualization 170
8.6 3D Distance Transformation 171
8.7 3D Voronoi Tessellation 176
8.8 Tetrahedron Network (TEN) Generation 181
8.9 Constrained Triangulations 183
8.9.1 The Line Rasterization 183
8.9.2 The Construction of the
Constrained TINs 185
8.10 Contouring Algorithm 190
8.10.1 Data Structures for Contouring 190
8.10.2 The Algorithm 192
8.10.3 The Contour Visualization 195
8.11 Algorithms for Irregular Network Formation 196
8.12 Summary 204

Chapter 9 Applications of the Model 207

9.1 Integration of Terrain Relief and
Terrain Features 207
9.2 Creating an Integrated Database 209
9.3 A Spatial Query Example 212
9.4 Integrating with 3D Features 214
9.5 Integrating with Geo-scientific Data 219
9.6 Spatial Operators 221
9.7 Graphic Visualization 223
9.7.1 Wireframe Graphics 224
9.7.2 Hidden Line and Surface Removal 225
9.7.3 Surface Shading and Illumination 226
9.7.4 Texture Mapping 227
9.8 Virtual Reality 230
9.9 Discussion 230
 CONTENTS X I

Chapter 10 The Web and 3D GIS 233

10.1 Introduction 233
10.2 Web 3D GIS 234
10.3 Management of 3D Spatial Data 238
10.4 GUI for 3D Visualization and Editing
on the Web 240
10.5 Current and Possible Approaches in
Urban Planning 248
10.6 Realized Browser-based Solutions 249
10.7 Stand-alone Solutions/Toolkits/Front-ends 254
10.8 Summary 255

Chapter 11 Conclusion and Further Outlook 257

11.1 Summary 257
11.2 Further Research 264

References and Bibliography 267

Index 287