White Paper of SuperMap GIS 11i(2022) 3D GIS Technology

1 3D GIS

1.1 Development Process of SuperMap 3D Technology

With the continuous development of various theories and technologies (such as GIS technology, computer technology, computer graphics, virtual reality technology and surveying technology), 3D GIS has gradually become one of the mainstream directions of GIS research. SuperMap has gone through more than ten years on the road of 3D GIS technology research and innovation. In 2009, 2D&3D integration GIS basic software was first proposed and released. Since then, many technical problems have been overcome, and a wealth of technical achievements have been released. In 2017, a brand new 3D GIS technology system was also proposed for the first time.

Figure?Development Process of SuperMap 3D GIS Technology

1.2 3D GIS Technology System

Based on the 2D and 3D integrated GIS technology, we further expanded spatial data model and analysis capabilities. We integrated multi-source heterogeneous data,such as BIM, oblique photography model data, laser points data, 3D field data and so on, and fulfilled 3D standard system, including the " Spatial 3D Model Data Format" (S3M) and the " Spatial 3D Model Data Service Interface". Based on distributed geoprocessing tools, we realized full-process management of manual modeling data, BIM, oblique photography model data, laser points data, 3D terrain data and other 3D data. Through integration of IT technologies such as WebGL, VR, AR, AI, 3D printing, and collaboration with game engines , SuperMap GIS brought a more realistic and convenient 3D experience, enhancing the capability of digital twin world construction and empowering new applications of 3D GIS.

Figure?3D GIS Technology System

In order to promote the sharing and standardization of 3D data, the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain jointly develop 3D Geospatial Tile Specification（Spatial 3D Model，S3M）. It integrates some new IT technologies such as WebGL, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), 3D printing and other new technologies to bring a more real and convenient 3D experience.

3D GIS technology has realized 2D&3D integration on data model, scene construction, spatial analysis and software form, which promote the development of 3D GIS in a more practical direction. In SuperMap GIS 10i :

1) On the basis of 2D&3D integration data model, 3D solid ,TIM and Voxel Grid and other 3D data models are designed and realized, which improves the theoretical system of 3D GIS technology and promotes the development of 3D GIS to a deeper level.

2) It not only integrates multi-source 3D data such as oblique photography Model, BIM，laser point cloud and provides technical support of oblique photography Model+GIS, BIM+GIS and other related functions, but also promotes the development of technology application in urban design, CIM (City Information Modeling) and other industries.

3) New IT technologies such as WebGL, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), 3D printing, game engines lead to a more friendly and convenient 3D experience.

4) In order to promote the sharing and standardization of 3D data, 12 institutions (including the China Association for Geographic Information System, Ministry of Natural Resources, National Geomatics Center of China, SuperMap and so on) jointly formulated Spatial 3D Model（S3M）, it defines an open and scalable 3D geospatial data format.

5) New features: it adds efficient full-process management capabilities of real-world 3D data based on distributed technology. For example, new distributed processing of oblique photography model is provided. And complete processing operators are provided to realize the full-process management of large-scale oblique photography model data from distributed processing, distributed storage and service release.

1.3 3D GIS Product System

Based on the 2D&3D GIS corn, SuperMap has developed universal series of 3D GIS software product systems including cloud GIS server, edge server and diverse APP.

Among them, SuperMap iServer mainly realizes the publishment and management for 3D services. SuperMap iPortal provides the ability to integrate and share 3D resources. SuperMap iEdge supports related edge computing and service proxy. SuperMap iDesktopX and SuperMap iDesktop mainly provide 3D scene construction, data processing, etc. It also provides 3D SDK or API of desktop, Web and mobile.

Figure?SuperMap GIS Products

SuperMap 3D Designer is an extension module of SuperMap iDesktopX, SuperMap iDesktop and SuperMap iObject.NET/JAVA. It also supports SuperMap iServer's 3D service extension, which has powerful multi-source 3D heterogeneous data integration capabilities, efficient 3D data operation and analysis functions, flexible modeling rule customization capabilities and Web design capabilities. This module is mainly used to provide related auxiliary design capabilities for engineering design and urban design and to provide sophisticated solutions for transportation, power, communication and other industries. In practical applications, SuperMap 3D Designer can not only process massive 3D data, but also build large-scale 3D scenes, which solve problems in the basis data process of GIS applications and shorten the construction period of projects effectively. At present, SuperMap 3D Designer supports the construction of 3D data model, which can be used for spatial relationship judgment, spatial operation and spatial analysis of 3D data. In addition, it can support multi-source data integration and 3D rule modeling and modify terrain, oblique photography model data, laser point cloud, BIM and other 3D data and real-time preview of modification results. Managing historical revision record also can be achieved, that is, it supports to view and rollback historical data. It also can generate 3D tiles cache, KML and STL 3D models for 3D printing, they can be efficiently published and browsed.

1.4 The Advantages of 3D GIS Technology

After continuous innovation for more than 10 years, SuperMap has overcome many technical problems and launched a 3D GIS technology system, it has developed universal series of 3D products of SuperMap GIS. The new technology also has many advantages.

1.4.1 3D Data Model?

SuperMap expands and defines 3D data model, TIM and Voxel Grid and other field models on the basis of traditional 2D GIS data models, such as point, line, polygon, grid, TIN and network etc., so that it promotes the integrated expression in sky/ground/underground and actual application of 3D GIS in universal space.

Based on 2D&3D integration data model, 3D solid data model is proposed to solve the issue of expression and analysis of discrete and homogeneous 3D solid space. TIM and Voxel Grid are developed to overcome the difficulty of expression and analysis of continuous and non-homogeneous 3D space. From the core level of GIS basic platform, ascending dimension of the spatial data model is realized from 2D to 3D, from plane network to 3D network, from TIN to TIM, from plane grid to Voxel Grid. It forms a complete spatial data model system covering discrete objects and continuous space and achieves the universal spatial expression for real world. And it not only improves theoretical system of 3D GIS and promotes the development of that to a deeper and more practical direction, but also extends the connotation of 3D GIS.

1.4.2 Dynamic Model Monomer Technology

SuperMap proposed a Dynamic Model Monomer Technology. At the visualization level, Shadow Rendering Technique attached on the vector data polygon of oblique photographic data and laser point cloud. Without cutting the data, the monomer expression of the two was realized.?

At the data level, the technology realized dynamic association between vector polygon data and oblique photography model data or laser point cloud data. And it not only is used for data updating, but also realizes the purpose that the latter two are associated with the business data depended on attribute query and spatial query function. This technology solves the problem of the two in GIS practice and effectively boosts their application in surveying, urban planning, smart city and other industries.

1.4.3 3D Model Symbol Technology

Through 3D symbol technology, spatial elements（point, line and polygon）are rapidly constructed and visually expressed in 3D scenes, which achieve real reproduction for these 3 types of elements in 3D scenes and effectively increase the utilization rate of basic surveying data, and it also reduces the modeling cost of 3D data.

1.4.4 Multi-Source Data Integration Technology

SuperMap GIS provides full-process solution and Dynamic Monomer Technology for oblique photography model data, which overcomes the difficulties that oblique photographic modeling data cannot directly query and manage object. It is the first to break through the key technology: native loading oblique photography model data in TB level in 3D GIS platform, dynamic coordinate transformation and real-time rendering.

SuperMap GIS realizes the fast loading and smooth display of high-precision laser point cloud data, and it supports the monomer query, measurement and setting color table to meet users’ needs.

Cooperated with partners, the company developed three data export plugins for BIM design software: Revit、Bentley、CATIA. At the same time, they support access to data formats such as Civil 3D and IFC. And it researched accurate match of BIM and GIS data in centimeter level, real-time rendering of BIM models above the million level, spatial analysis of BIM model and other key technologies. Complete BIM+GIS function can help urban design and CIM construction.

SuperMap integrates multi-source data such as oblique photography model, BIM, fine model, point cloud data, vector data, underground pipeline, terrain, dynamic water, field model. Finally, it forms 3D Geospatial Tile Specification（Spatial 3D Model，S3M) and breaks through the technical bottleneck of large-scale 3D data transmission and analysis under B/S. It also provides an open, standard and universal data foundation for 3D spatial data sharing and interoperability between different application systems, further promoting multi-source heterogeneous 3D data integration. At the same time, it is compatible with a variety of software & hardware environments, significantly reducing the costs in construction, management and operation and maintenance aspects of 3D GIS application systems.

1.4.5 High-Performance 3D GIS Technology

A 3D earth engine is developed to solve the key issues :1. Multi-resolution representation at the global scale. 2.Management and scheduling of spatial data on the digital earth. 3.Developing several technologies to improve rendering performance, including: rendering engine technology, LOD technology, Batch rendering technology, Texture compression technology. The Render Relative To Eye Using GPU was developed to solve the problem of insufficient rendering precision for large-scale scenes.

SuperMap has the 3D spatial analysis function with real-time analysis, instant completion and result export. The visualization effect of 3D spatial analysis can be displayed in the 3D scene in real time, and the results can be exported for the secondary spatial analysis.

On the basis of achieving efficient rendering of large-scale 3D data, data storage and management has become an urgent problem. SuperMap utilizes distributed technology to achieve efficient full-process management of large-scale 3D data (such as oblique photography model, laser point clouds, terrain, and images) and realizes the efficiency of 3D data from data access, data processing, service release and multi-terminal applications management.

1.4.6 High-Realistic 3D Special Effects

In terms of realism and special effects of 3D scenes, SuperMap GIS not only supports a variety of 3D special effects, but also provides a high-performance particle system, which provides strong support for the construction of high-realistic 3D scenes.

In terms of special effects, by supporting various 3D special effects such as custom light source, texture animation, self-illumination, scan line with additional texture, flood light, high dynamic lighting (HDR), physics-based rendering (PBR), OIT transparent rendering, etc, many more cool 3D effects can be combined. The custom light source function not only supports a variety of light source types (point light source, spot light, parallel light), but also has customizable parameters, and most importantly, it has high performance characteristics. At the same time, it also realizes different scanning effects such as hexagonal and circular scanning, and supports custom texture mapping. The texture-set scan line can be used for analog signal emission.

In addition, SuperMap GIS also provides a high-performance particle system to simulate natural phenomena such as flames, fountains, rain and snow, which improves the rendering performance, provides irregular surface emitter, and supports the setting of particle areas of any shape. Particle system special effects can be widely used in emergency rescue, weather simulation and other fields.

Figure?Ocean, Sky 3D Special Effects

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