3d Visualization for the Analysis of Forest Cover Change

As geographers continue to place more emphasis on the temporal aspect of spatial patterns, there is a need for innovative display techniques to supplement static maps. Visualization software and methods have been developed to recreate natural landscapes, but little has been done to investigate the potential for illustrating land cover change using temporal data acquired from the real world. In this work, a combination of remote sensing, GIS and visualization techniques was applied to demonstrate the potential for realistic computer visualizations depicting the dynamic nature of forested environments. High resolution digital imagery and aerial photography were classified using object-oriented methods. The resulting classifications, along with pre-existing land cover datasets, were used to drive the correct placement of vegetation in the visualized landscape, providing an accurate representation of reality at various points in time. 3D Nature’s Visual Nature Studio was used to construct a variety of realistic stills and animations depicting forest cover change in two distinct ecological settings. Visualizations from Yellowstone National Park focused on the dramatic natural impact of the 1988 fire upon the lodgepole pine forest. In Kansas, visualization techniques were used to explore the continuous human-land interactions between 1941 and 2002 impacting the eastern deciduous forest and tallgrass prairie ecotone. The resulting products demonstrate the flexibility and effectiveness of visualizations for representing spatio-temporal patterns such as changing forest cover. These geovisualizations allow users, such as researchers, resource managers and the public, to communicate findings and explore new hypothesis in a clear, concise and effective manner.