Transcript Maps to Virtual Worlds - Teacher Scientist Network

Social Science for the Environment,
Virtual Reality and Experimental Laboratories
What do we do?
We take digital map data
and other information…
put it all together…
and make images and models of the landscape
Previous and Current Projects
Near Swaffham
Oxfordshire
Near Trowse
Near Swaffham
UEA campus
Germany
Why do we turn maps into images and models?
Map information can be very useful, telling you you many things
about the landscape.
BUT – not everyone is used to reading maps, and you can only
include a certain amount of detail without losing clarity.
From looking at this…
…can you imagine this?
Case Study:
Ecological Corridors in the Norfolk Broads
• Some habitats are not linked very directly despite
proximity – e.g. parallel Thurne and Ant valleys
• Areas separated by agriculture, main roads,
buildings – blocking species movements
• What if corridors of land were allowed to revert to
more natural vegetation, to link these areas?
• Images allow proposals to be discussed more easily
(but at present it is all hypothetical!)
Digital Elevation
(or Terrain) Model
Measurements at
5m spacing in this
case, derived from
laser-scanning
Land use / cover
information
Based on Ordnance
Survey MasterMap,
but with additional
information from
other sources
Aerial photography
– 25cm resolution
in this case, taken
in 2004
GIS issues – integrating data
Additional landscape elements
might include trees
(outside woodland)
and hedges
VRML
VRML
VRML
VRML
VRML
Case Study: Climate Change Impacts on Rural Landscapes
GenesisII
Current
situation
National
VRML Enterprise
Local
Stewardship
World Construction Set
Case study: Climate Change Impacts on Rural Landscapes
Current
situation
National
VRML Enterprise
Local
Stewardship
Caution…
• Detail levels should be chosen with care
• what will people infer from a detailed image?
• tendency to get lost in the details
Case study:
Virtual Reality in Environmental
Management
Visualising Coastal Futures
This research has been funded by
Coastal environments are undergoing change
•Issues for low lying coasts and soft cliffs
•Sea level rise and possibilities of increased
storminess.
•Increasing costs of maintaining current sea
defences.
•Recognition that solid engineering solutions may
not be sustainable in the future.
•Communication of options is increasingly
important.