Generating 3D city models without elevation data

Elevation datasets (e.g. point clouds) are an essential but often unavailable ingredient for the construction of 3D city models. We investigate in this paper to what extent can 3D city models be generated solely from 2D data without elevation measurements. We show that it is possible to predict the height of buildings from 2D data (their...

The variants of an LOD of a 3D building model and their influence on spatial analyses

The level of detail (LOD) of a 3D city model indicates the model's grade and usability. However, there exist multiple valid variants of each LOD. As a consequence, the LOD concept is inconclusive as an instruction for the acquisition of 3D city models. For instance, the top surface of an LOD1 block model may be modelled at the eaves of a...

Height references of CityGML LOD1 buildings and their influence on applications

The geometry of the LOD1 block model of CityGML may be represented in a multitude of valid variants, e.g. it may represent individual buildings or aggregated blocks. The geometric representations within each of these, such as the reference of the footprint of a building, are not standardised in CityGML and are not informed in the metadata. The...