Openness as Visualization Technique for Interpretative Mapping of Airborne Lidar Derived Digital Terrain Models

LiDAR is developing into a formidable instrument of aerial survey. Here the author shows how the LiDAR picture can be enhanced so that features picked up by illumination from different directions can be combined in one comprehensive survey.

Aerial mapping and remote sensing takes another step forward with this method of modelling lidar data. The usual form of presentation, hill shade, uses a point source to show up surface features. Sky-view factor simulates diffuse light by computing how much of the sky is visible from each point. The result is a greatly improved visibility — as shown here by its use on a test site of known topography in Slovenia.