Visualization of Vector Data on Global Scale Terrain

Vector represents a major category of data managed by GIS, which is traditionally used for representing geographic entities such as political borders, roads, rivers and cadastral information. In this paper we present a key data structure and associated render-time algorithm for the combined display of multi-resolution 3D terrain and traditional GIS vector data, which is designed to create fully 3D scenes that deliver the best possible quality and do not require dynamic texture generation and handling. The algorithm allows the system to adapt the visual mapping to the context and user needs, and enables users to interactively modify vector through the visual representation, which represents a basic mechanism for 3D GIS interface and facilitates the development of visual analysis and exploration tools.