Geographic Information Science (GIS) 3D

The widening of the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) fields of application, led by the advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), has radically modified not only the tools, but also the approach to spatial information management. The first applications of GIS were oriented essentially toward digital cartography management, supporting only 2D and 2.5D representations. Starting from the late 1990s, the widespread use of ICTs has radically improved also the availability of spatial information over the internet. GIS tools became powerful instruments to perform complex analyses both on thematic and geometry content and the use of them has become essential in many areas. The increasing application of GIS to urban cartography is one of the major causes of growing interest in 3D GIS. The shift from large-scale presentations to urban and architectural representations is in fact the key to understanding the system capabilities for managing the third dimension. While 2D and 2.5D representations fulfill the needs of large-scale mapping, urban maps require the capability of handling 3D representations. Some emerging areas of interest for 3D GIS applications are: management of urban areas development, environmental monitoring, emergency management, architecture and civil engineering, geological analysis, automatic vehicle navigation, and CH documentation and management (Abdul-Rahman & Pilouk, 2008).