3D digital maps: New development in cartography for cultural heritage

This paper will demonstrate how new technologies in cartographic environment integrate acquisition, management and representation techniques for georefencing data processing. Moreover, there is an ever-growing demand for a more “representative” and “world widespread” digital cartography. More representative means the capabilities in describing physical phenomena but also social, economic and cultural data that are necessarily connected to geographical aspects. More widespread derives from the growing use of cartographic products by non-specialized users. Among the different formats of numerical cartography, threedimensional maps are certainly the more suitable. These represent a cartographic typology corresponding to different levels of accuracy and details to describe reality, such as DTM and city modelling. They provide geometrical and qualitative information coming from the use of historical documents and present-day aerial and terrestrial photo suitably processed: such as orthophotos mapped onto DTM for a more truthful description of territory. Data for 3D map production can be acquired by employing the most advanced and outstanding techniques, normally integrated such as digital photogrammetry and laser scanning, both aerial (aircraft or helicopter) and terrestrial survey. 3D digital cartography seems to be more suitable in different field of applications: to recover the historical maps content, to establish an architectural project in its surroundings, to well deals with town-planning matters, to perform simulations for environmental impact analyses, and so on.