Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/33025
connected environment has led to shorter analysis time cycles and a demand for rapid delivery of products. Day- long operations that focused on siloed, single-source analysis are in the past—today’s operations require a holistic approach, leveraging all available information to deliver products in hours, not days. Information-technology advances enabled the expec- T tation of shortened cycle times. Fast networks are pervasive, computing power is extensive, and data storage is almost unlimited. On top of such infrastruc- ture, software systems coupled with open standards are delivering a continuously connected environment that provides immediate information discovery and exchange, distributed resource use, and diverse sys- tem access. To operate in this taxing environment and meet shortened deadlines, geospatial users need a common reference point—an understanding of the context they’re working within. The key reference point for modern geospatial users is the location they’re working within. Whether it’s a virtual representation or an in-field deployment, the geospatial context provides the critical foundation. Such “geocontext” exposes interrelationships and over- all structure that play a critical role in geospatial opera- tions. And for today’s demanding and time-critical geo- spatial environment, highly accurate and information-rich visualization technology is providing a rapid and natural methodology to communicate geocontext. Geocontext Communication Using the latest technology to visualize and commu- nicate a region’s geocontext isn’t a new concept. For years, maps, globes and photographs have provided a means to communicate and understand a location’s context. Fitting to the limitations of this media, context was communicated through specialized symbology, graphics and terminology. As with most industries, the advent and rapid advancements of information technologies during the last 50 years had a dramatic impact on geospatial sciences. Paper maps, measurement tables and photographs have all given way to digital technology, enabling rapid computation, display and communica- tion of geospatial information. Of all these advances, computer visualization has had the greatest impact. Initial digital systems leveraged existing metaphors and operational workflows. Existing mapping structure oday’s geospatial users face difficult challenges to meet the tasks placed upon them. A prolif- eration of sensors coupled with a continuously and symbology defined the lexicon and paradigms used to communicate geocontext digitally within GIS applications. Visualization and analysis of digital imag- ery employed a layout and tools that mimicked the structure of photographic-analysis light tables. Although the systems provided vast improvements in creating, sharing and exploiting information, the overall communication of geocontext remained fairly unchanged until recently. New methods, led by advanc- es in computer visualization, now are employed to communicate context. Realistic Generation Spurred on by the highly competitive computer-gaming industry, the abilities of computer graphics systems have advance at an incredible rate. Today’s graphics hardware and associated software technologies pro- vide a highly capable visualization system, even on commodity platforms. The availability of these systems is enabling a new method to communicate geocontext through lifelike virtual scene rendering. Communicating geocontext no longer requires spe- cialized symbology or is forced to fit within the 2-D con- straints of earlier systems. Systems now can generate dynamic 3-D scenes that visually express geocontext through lifelike renderings. Although lifelike scene generation has existed for years, it often required specialized hardware or gener- lEsri’s ArcGIS can be used to analyze building shadows in a 3-D environment. M AY 2O11 / WWW . GEOPLA CE .C O M 19