History

Market-leading expertise from Infoterra Ltd

Skape is the latest product to be brought you by Infoterra Ltd, a leading provider of geographic information products and services. Our portfolio of geographic information solutions includes airborne and satellite data acquisition, geo-information creation, database management and outsourced hosting.

At Infoterra Ltd we provide expert geospatial knowledge to companies worldwide to help them make informed decisions. We have major customers in:

• Government (DEFRA; The Highways Agency)
• Insurance (Lloyd's of London)
• Utilities (EDF)
• Engineering
• Defence (the MOD)
• Oil, gas & mineral exploration (Shell; BP)

Infoterra Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS Astrium, Europe's leading space systems and services specialist.

Infoterra Ltd, which incorporates Imass Ltd, is part of the Infoterra Group, which also comprises companies in France, Germany, Hungary and Spain.

How we developed Skape - the story so far

Infoterra Ltd are experts in the capture, and processing, of airborne data. We have produced nationwide, map accurate aerial photo mosaics and Digital Terrain Models (DTM).

The latest generation of digital sensors such as the Leica ADS40 and Vexcel UltraCam X facilitate the photogrammetric generation of high quality imagery, DTM and DSM (Digital Surface Model).

The combination of DTM and DSM allows the broad characterisation of the terrain and features on it such as buildings and trees. Furthermore increased height accuracy and resolution are achieved for key urban centres by using highly accurate (±15cm) LiDar measurements every metre.

Urban Skape was born out of a need to harness some of this information and add value to an established Ordnance Survey dataset. The heighting algorithm looks for the most accurate data (LiDar where available followed by photogrammetric heights) and makes statistical height measurements for each TOID.

Infoterra's LandBase takes this approach a step further by using the imagery to form objects, classify them and attribute them with complex information. In doing this LandBase gives an independent, complete characterisation of the landscape.

The search for efficient 3D city modelling techniques

In the search for 3D city modelling techniques more efficient than traditional photogrammetry, airborne LiDar was chosen as the primary data source. Thorough research concluded that while highly accurate, LiDar measurements every metre did not contain enough detail to model complex roof shapes effectively, the much higher data density requirement was fulfilled by the latest Optech Gemini allowing complex roof structures such as domes and dormers to be modelled semi-automatically.

A truly realistic model

The natural evolution of a realistic 3D city model is to apply textures to create an immersive environment. After experimenting with various generic texture schemes it was clear that a truly realistic model could only be achieved by applying 'real life' images.

Airborne oblique images facilitate this by capturing not only the building roofs but also the facades from many different angles to give a complete picture. Complex algorithms were used that maximize the image coverage by picking and utilising all lines of sight to give as comprehensive a texture as possible.

Extending the use beyond visual analysis

Finally, understanding the need to extend the use beyond visual analysis the oblique imagery was used to split the model logically, by building, allowing object data integration, queries and thematic mapping.