Using Satellite Data for Terrain and AEC

Visualizations
Geoff Taylor – Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc.

DV400-2 In the Design Visualization industry, producing accurate imagery is a must. Creating
Visualizations for man-made structures are usually built with AutoCAD® drawings as reference. But what if
you're producing a visualization that is as much about the physical location and terrain details as the
development itself? How do you develop accurate models when this information isn't accessible through a
client? This class will explain how to gather detailed terrain elevations and imagery through publicly available
resources. You will learn how to use this data to develop highly detailed and accurate 3D models in 3ds
MAX®.

About the Speaker:

Geoff has been working in the Design Visualization industry for the past seven years. Currently a Senior
Design Visualization Specialist with Parsons Brinckerhoff (formally Company 39).
Using Satellite Data for Terrain and AEC Visualizations

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Software:
• MICRODEM:

Freeware application used to convert USGS Digital Elevation Models into a format suitable for importing into
3D Studio MAX. http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/microdem.htm

• TatukGIS Viewer:

TatukGIS Viewer is a free application used to quickly and easily merge multiple satellite images into one
image. The company, TatukGIS, offers multiple comerical applications for purchase on their web site.
http://www.tatukgis.com/

• Global Mapper:

Commercial application that does all of the functions listed in the above. http://globalmapper.com/

Web resources:
• USGS National Map Seamless Server:

One of the best available resources online. It’s great for downloading both digital elevation models and
satellite imagery. http://seamless.usgs.gov/

• Microsoft’s Teraserver

This is a great resource to download detailed imagery of cities and other urban areas. Although the
coverage of non urbanized areas is almost non existant. MICRODEM and Global Mapper can download
from teraserver directly. http://terraserver-usa.com/

• GLCF Earth Science Data Interface

Online resource used to download Landsat7 Satellite Images. http://glcfapp.umiacs.umd.edu/

Downloading digital elevation models:

Digital Elevation Models are files that contain detailed elevation data. The USGS Seamless website
provides access to the National Elevation Dataset (NED), a seamless database of USGS elevation data.

• Zoom into area to download with the zoom tool

• Highlight area to download

• Click the download toolbar and select 1” NED

• Select the “Define Rectangular Area Download” tool

• Highlight your download area

• On the popup window select the “Modify Data Request” button

• Select specific data to download

• Scroll down to “National Elevation Dataset”

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• Checkmark the NED resolution you’d like to download.

o 1 Arc Second (1” NED) equals data down to 30 meters of accuracy

o 1/3 Arc Second (1\3” NED) equals data down to 10 meters of accuracy

o 1/9 Arc Second (1\9” NED) equals data down to 3 meters of accuracy

• Change the format to GeoTIFF for using with MICRODEM

• Change the format to Arc GRID for using with Global Mapper

• Select the “Save Changes and Return to Data Summary” button

• Download data

• Note down the latitude/longitude coordinates. You will need this later on to download the satellite
imagery for the same area.

• Select the download button to download.

• Once downloaded unzip the file and copy out the TIFF file. The rest of the files and any sub-directories
are not needed.

Using MICRODEM to import terrain data into 3D Studio MAX:

• Open MICRODEM

• Load the downloaded TIFF file via: File > Open > Open DEM

• Cap sea level bodies of water

• In MICRODEM any body of water at sea level has no data. This will create holes or empty space in
your 3D model. These areas are shown in black as seen in the image above. You’ll want to cap
these holes in MICRODEM.

• Cap bodies of water via: Edit > DEM Holes > Missing Data to Sea Level

• The sea level bodies of water are now shown as a color rather than black.

• Lowering the sample spacing of terrain data

• When importeing terrain data into MAX, the resulting 3D model can be very dense. It’s best to
lower the sampling of your terrain data. Lower your sampling via File > Save DEM >
Reinterpolate, UTM

• Enter your new sample spacing in meters. This will be the size of each square polygon in 3D
Studio MAX

• Saving terrain data for importing into 3D Studio MAX

• MICRODEM can save terrain data in many formats. Unfortunatly most of these will not import
correctly into 3D Studio MAX. Save terrain data as an OBJ file via File > Save DEM > 3D (OBJ)

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• Importing terrain data into 3D Studio MAX

• MICRODEM files have units set in meters. So you’ll need to set your 3D Studio MAX units to
be the same. This is done through Customize > Units Setup.

• Import the OBJ file via File > Import

• The OBJ file will come in on its side and hundreds of miles away from the world center point. It
will need to be rotated in its X-axis, pivot point centered and moved to the world center point
0,0,0.

• The imported terrain is very dense. The mesh will need to be optimized. Welding thousands
of verts and then optimizing the mesh will take an incredible amount of processing power and
time. Possibly crashing your machine. There is a simpler way to do this.

• Intelligently optimizing terrain mesh

• In the top viewport, make a plane object that matches the X and Y overall dimensions of the
mesh.

• Decide which areas of your terrain need to be highly detailed and which areas that can be at a
lower detail. For example, any terrain that is seen in the distance can be at a lower detail than
what is seen close to the camera.

• Convert your terrain to a mesh object. Use tessellate to add more polygons in the areas that
need more detail.

• Make a clone of the imported terrain. In sub-object mode scale all the polygons in their local Z
axis to create one large flat object. It’s important that you scale the subobject polygons and
not the object by itself. Once done, center the objects pivot.

• You now have the original imported terrain, the flattened terrain and the modified plane that’s
been added to the scene. Arrange them as shown in the above image, each stacked directly
on top of each other.

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• Now align the ‘modified plane’ to the ‘flattened terrain’ in the Z axis.

• Add a skin wrap modifier to the plane. With ‘flattened terrain’ as a target.

• Select the ‘flattened terrain’. Add a morpher modifier and add the ‘imported terrain’ as a morph
target. Once selected, turn the morph target number up to 100.

• The ‘flattened terrain’ will now revert to looking like the original ‘imported terrain’. The
‘modified plane’ will change its shape to match via the skin wrap modifier.

• Convert the ‘modified plane’ to a mesh and you now have your intelligently optimized mesh.

Downloading satellite imagery from the USGS Seamless website:

• Manually zoom into the same region you previously downloaded terrain data from. On the
download tab, select which satellite imagery you’d like to download under orthoimagery.

• We want to download images that exactly match the coordinates of the perviously downloaded
terrrain. Select the button “Define Download Area by Coordinates”.

• This will open a window used to enter the coordinates. Add the latitude/longitude coordinates
you wrote down earlier when downloading your terrain data. These coordinates were listed to
you in decimal degrees. This window asks for coordinates in degrees, minutes and seconds.
Press “Switch to Decimal Degrees”

• Add your coordinates and press the “Add Area” button to download.

• Once downloaded unzip the files and copy out the TIFF’s.

• Stitching images together with the TatukGIS Viewer

• Open TatukGIS Viewer and load one of your satellite images.

• Right click on the image, select “add” to load another satellite image. When loaded it will
automatically. Continue this cycle untill you’ve loaded all satellite images

• All of the satellite images have been stitched into one. Save the image via File > Export To
image. The resulting file will be very large in file size. If needed, resize in Photoshop.

• Applying satellite image to terrain model in 3D Studio MAX

• The terrain data and the satellite images were both downloaded with the same exact latitude
and longitude coordinates. This means when you apply a material containing the satellite
image, it will line up correctly with a simple planar UVW map modifier.

Using Global Mapper to import terrain data into 3D Studio MAX:

• Download terrain data from the USGS Seamless website. The data format will need to be Arc
GRID instead of GeoTIFF, as used earlier with MICRODEM. In this case I’ve downloaded data
for Mt. Rainier in the Washington State covering approximately 260 square miles.

• Open data via File > Open Data File.

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• Changing projection settings

• At first glance the imported terrain data looks correct. But in reality it has been distorted.
Similar to that as if you had flattened a globe of the earth into a flat map. This is due to the
default Global Mapper projection settings.

• Change the projection setting via Tools > Configure > Projection

• For 3D Studio MAX you’ll want to change the projection to either UTM or the State Plane
Coordinate System. These are very similar to each other and will project the terrain with little
to no distortion. MICRODEM uses UTM and so I have chosen the same.

• While MICRODEM forces the user to work in meters, Global Mapper will allow the user to work
in any unit measurement they’d like. I have chosen feet.

• The terrain is now being projected with no distortion.

• Downloading satellite imagery

Global Mapper has the unique ability to download Satellite imagery directly from online resources.
Open the download window via File > Download Online Imagery

• There are many data sources available to download. Trial and error may need to be used to
find what you’re looking for. For non-urbanized locations “Landsat7 Global imagery Mosaic
(Natural Color, Pan-Sharpened)” is usually the best option.

• Enter the same exact coordinates used to download the terrain data from the USGS Seamless
website.

• The downloaded images will appear directly over the terrain data. Consider these images to
be a low-res “preview”. When you’ve decided to save out the final images, Global Mapper will
download the high resolution images and save them to your hard drive.

• Exporting terrain data

When importing terrain data into 3D Studio MAX, the resulting mesh is always very dense. This makes
models very difficult to work with when they cover large areas such as Mt. Rainier. Global Mapper is
able to export its data into multiple pieces. This allows the user to optimize terrain in small chunks
rather than one immense model. Open the export dialog via File > Export Raster and Elevation Data
> Export DXF Mesh

• There are three tabs. On the “General” tab change the vertical units to the same used when
changing the projection settings. In this case I’ve used feet. You will also want to change the
“Sample Spacing”. This will define the size of each square polygon when imported into 3D
Studio MAX.

• The “Gridding” tab is where you can define how many pieces you’d like to export the terrain as.
I have chosen to export in a grid of 3 by 3 pieces.

• The “Export Bounds” tab is used to define what part of the terrain data is going to be imported.
This is useful if wanting to export only a small portion of the entire data set. In this case I’ve
chosen to export all of the terrain data via checking “All Loaded Data”

• When done press OK to save out the DXF Mesh

• Exporting satellite imagery

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Exporting the Satellite imagery is done in a similar fashion. The terrain data was saved out in pieces so
you’ll need to do the same with the satellite images. This is done so that each piece of the terrain
model will have a corresponding satellite image with the same exact dimensions. Open the export
dialog via File > Export Raster and Elevation Data > Export PNG. You can also save out a JPEG by
selecting Export JPG

• This will open a window that will have similar tabs as the DXF Mesh export window. On the
“PNG Export Options” tab you can set the image file settings. The sample spacing is set by
default to the original resolution of the satellite source images. This defines how many feet
each pixel represents. I’d recommend exporting at the default and, if needed, changing the
resolution in Photoshop later on.

• On the “Gridding” tab use the same settings used when exporting the terrain data.

• On the “Export bounds” tab use the same settings used when exporting the terrain data.

• When done press OK to save out the satellite images. Since the images displayed on the
screen are considered “previews”, Global Mapper will now download the original high
resolution images. This can take a long time depending on the size of the geographic location
being downloaded. Sometimes Global Mapper will appear to freeze. But in reality it is simply
downloading the images and appears unresponsive until it is finished.

• Importing terrain data into 3D Studio MAX

Importing terrain from Global Mapper is almost identical as to importing from MICRODEM. But there
are a few exceptions.

• Before importing make sure to set units to match the ones used in Global Mapper. This is
done through Customize > Units Setup. In this case I had set the units to feet.

• Import the DXF Mesh file via File > Import. You will have to do this multiple times so that
you can import each piece of the terrain data one by one

• All of the DXF Mesh files file will come with reversed normals. You will also notice that the
outside boundaries of each model have polygons that project directly downwards in Z. Do not
delete these polygons until the end of this entire process.

• All of these objects are hundreds of miles away from the world center point. Select all of the
objects and put them in a group. Move the group to the world center point at 0,0,0 and then
ungroup them.

• As with MICRODEM the imported terrain is very dense and will need to be intelligently
optimized as done before. Since our terrain is now made up of multiple pieces you’ll need to
optimize each one separately. However, you’ll want the vertices along the outer edge of each
optimized mesh to line up exactly with the vertices of the adjacent optimized mesh. If not, you
will see a slight separation between the models when rendering.

• In the top viewport, make a plane object that matches the X and Y overall dimensions of one of
the imported DXF Mesh models. It needs a decent amount of subdivisions. But nothing near
as many as the original terrain mesh.

• Each imported DXF Mesh has the same exact dimensions. Meaning your modified plane
object will also match each exactly. Copy your modified plane to cover each DXF Mesh.
Making sure that each plane edge lines up exactly with any adjacent planes.

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• Select all of the plane objects. Add an “Edit Mesh” modifier. Will all objects selected, go into
polygon sub object mode and select which areas you’d like to have high detail. For Mt Rainier,
I have selected the polygons directly over the mountain.

• Use tessellate to add more polygons. Since this was done with all planes selected, all
polygons along a plane edge line up exactly with the polygons on adjacent planes. Even in the
areas that have been tessellated to add more polygons.

• Now you will need to follow the same steps as before, when working with the imported
MICRODEM data.

• Make a clone of the import terrain models. In sub-object mode scale all the polygons in their
local Z axis to flatten each model.

• Align each modified plane to their corresponding flattened terrain models. They need to match
each other exactly in the Z axis.

• Add a skin wrap modifier to each plane. Under parameters use the add button to select the
corresponding flattened terrain.

• Add a morpher modifier to each flattened terrain object. Add the corresponding DXF Mesh as
a morph target. Turn up the morph target number to 100.

• For each flattened terrain, The flattened terrain objects will now revert to looking like the
original imported DXF Mesh. The corresponding modified plane will change its shape to match
via the skin wrap modified. You now have your intelligently optimized mesh.

Applying satellite images to mesh in 3D Studio MAX

• Add a UVW map modifier to each optimized terrain model. Since the terrain data and the
satellite images were saved out with the same settings, the images will fit each terrain object
exactly. This is why we did not delete the polygons surrounding each terrain model that
stretch down in the Z axis. These polygons affect the dimensions. With them deleted the
satellite images would get mapped to each object incorrectly.

• Create separate materials in the material editor. One for each optimized terrain model and
add the corresponding satellite image.

• Once you have applied the materials to the terrain objects feel free to delete the unused
polygons that stretch down in the Z axis. The 3D terrain model is now finished.

Downloading and processing Landsat 7 satellite images:

• Download Landsat7 images

To create your own “natural color” images you will need to download the original Landsat7 false color images.
This is done through the GLCF Earth Science Data Interface. http://glcfapp.umiacs.umd.edu/

• Select “Map Search”

• Select “ETM+”

• Zoom in by clicking an area with the magnify tool

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• Use the “Select” button to select an area to download.

• This will open a window showing you what options you have to download. There are usually
multiple images showing the same area. You only need to select one of them

• Select which image you’d like to download and press the “download” button

• Download the files that end with 10, 20, 30 and 80. Once downloaded unzip each file and pull out
the corresponding TIFF file.

• Process images in Photoshop

The three files you downloaded are grey scale files. Each represents a separate spectrum of light.

• Image 01 = Blue

• Image 02 = Green

• Image 03 = Red

• Image 08 is not a spectrum of light. Rather it represents light intensity. It will be used to increase the
resolution of the final image.

• Open files 10, 20 and 30 in Photoshop. These are all grey scale images. These must stay in
gray scale mode or this will not work.

• With one image selected open the channels tab. Select the down arrow in the top left and
chose “Merge Channels”

• These will open a “Merge Channels” dialogue. On the dropdown menu select RGB and press
OK

• You now have a window that allows to you pick which image goes into what RGB channel.

a. Red Channel = image 30

b. Green Channel = image 20

c. Blue Channel = image 10

• You now have a “natural color” image. We will use image 80 to double its size.

• The color mode will need to be converted to “Lab Color” Image > Mode > Lab Color

• Increase the resolution by 200% via Image > Image Size

• Open image 80. “Select All” and copy to the clipboard.

• On the “Natural Color” image open the channels tab. Select the “lightness channel” and paste
in image 80. You now have an image doubled in resolution.

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