More realistic geospatial models with 3D data

Three-dimensional (3D) geospatial data is a type of data that represents geographic information in three dimensions, meaning it includes information about height, width, and depth. The purpose of 3D geospatial data is to provide a more complete and accurate representation of the real world by adding a third dimension to traditional two-dimensional maps. Until recently, 3D data wasn’t used often because it took many times more computer processing power and memory to analyze and render graphically than 2D geospatial data. But as computing power has significantly increased and cloud processing has become more common, so has the use of 3D data, which is better supported by modern technology.

One of the most popular tools for viewing and interacting with 3D data is Google Earth, which we’ll see in Chapter 3, The Geospatial Technology Landscape. We examined one of the most common types of 3D data, LIDAR data, earlier in this...