Low-Cost 3D Virtual and Dynamic Reconstruction Approach for Urban Forests: The Mesiano University Park

Urban forests, parks, and gardens are fundamental components of urban sustainability, resilience, regenerative dynamics. Designers, architects, landscape architects could smartly manage these dynamic ecosystems if efficiently provided with design-oriented digital tools, technologies, techniques. However, practitioners lack knowledge standardized procedures for their uses. The rise low-cost sensors to generate 3D data (e.g., point clouds) in forestry can also effectively support monitoring, analysis, visualization purposes greenery contexts. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach—involving the fields forestry, geomatics, computer science—this contribution addresses issues proposes a workflow virtual reconstructions forests information management activities thus architecture applications. By connecting wide range methods (i.e., spherical photogrammetry, cloud modeling), tools 360° camera, tablet lidar sensor), software Agisoft Metashape, CloudCompare, Autodesk AutoCAD), proposed is defined tested development representations plot Mesiano University park Trento (Italy). Finally, comparing acquisition, processing, elaboration methodologies results, possibility developing twins envisioned.