A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain Analysis
Terrain rendering is an important issue in Geographic Information Systems and other fields. During large-scale, real-time terrain rendering, complex terrain structure and an increasing amount of data decrease the smoothness of terrain rendering. Existing rendering methods rarely use the features of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/10/10/666 |
| _version_ | 1797514356994342912 |
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| author | Lei Zhang Ping Wang Chengyi Huang Bo Ai Wenjun Feng |
| author_facet | Lei Zhang Ping Wang Chengyi Huang Bo Ai Wenjun Feng |
| author_sort | Lei Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Terrain rendering is an important issue in Geographic Information Systems and other fields. During large-scale, real-time terrain rendering, complex terrain structure and an increasing amount of data decrease the smoothness of terrain rendering. Existing rendering methods rarely use the features of terrain to optimize terrain rendering. This paper presents a method to increase rendering performance through precomputing roughness and self-occlusion information making use of GIS-based Digital Terrain Analysis. Our method is based on GPU tessellation. We use quadtrees to manage patches and take surface roughness in Digital Terrain Analysis as a factor of Levels of Detail (LOD) selection. Before rendering, we first regularly partition the terrain scene into view cells. Then, for each cell, we calculate its potential visible patch set (PVPS) using a visibility analysis algorithm. After that, A PVPS Image Pyramid is built, and each LOD level has its corresponding PVPS. The PVPS Image Pyramid is stored on a disk and is read into RAM before rendering. Based on the PVPS Image Pyramid and the viewpoint’s position, invisible terrain areas that are not culled through view frustum culling can be dynamically culled. We use Digital Elevation Model (DEM) elevation data of a square area in Henan Province to verify the effectiveness of this method. The experiments show that this method can increase the frame rate compared with other methods, especially for lower camera flight heights. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:30:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1693926316554257a2756404c537ef63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2220-9964 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:30:28Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-1693926316554257a2756404c537ef632023-11-22T18:29:38ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642021-10-01101066610.3390/ijgi10100666A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain AnalysisLei Zhang0Ping Wang1Chengyi Huang2Bo Ai3Wenjun Feng4College of Geodesy and Geomatics, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, ChinaKey Laboratory of Marine Environmental Survey Technology and Application, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou 510000, ChinaNorth Sea Engineering and Survey and Research Institute, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266061, ChinaCollege of Geodesy and Geomatics, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, ChinaQingdao Yuehai Information Service Co., Ltd., Qingdao 266590, ChinaTerrain rendering is an important issue in Geographic Information Systems and other fields. During large-scale, real-time terrain rendering, complex terrain structure and an increasing amount of data decrease the smoothness of terrain rendering. Existing rendering methods rarely use the features of terrain to optimize terrain rendering. This paper presents a method to increase rendering performance through precomputing roughness and self-occlusion information making use of GIS-based Digital Terrain Analysis. Our method is based on GPU tessellation. We use quadtrees to manage patches and take surface roughness in Digital Terrain Analysis as a factor of Levels of Detail (LOD) selection. Before rendering, we first regularly partition the terrain scene into view cells. Then, for each cell, we calculate its potential visible patch set (PVPS) using a visibility analysis algorithm. After that, A PVPS Image Pyramid is built, and each LOD level has its corresponding PVPS. The PVPS Image Pyramid is stored on a disk and is read into RAM before rendering. Based on the PVPS Image Pyramid and the viewpoint’s position, invisible terrain areas that are not culled through view frustum culling can be dynamically culled. We use Digital Elevation Model (DEM) elevation data of a square area in Henan Province to verify the effectiveness of this method. The experiments show that this method can increase the frame rate compared with other methods, especially for lower camera flight heights.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/10/10/666terrain renderingtessellationpotential visible setDigital Terrain AnalysisLevels of DetailOpenGL Shading Language |
| spellingShingle | Lei Zhang Ping Wang Chengyi Huang Bo Ai Wenjun Feng A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain Analysis ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information terrain rendering tessellation potential visible set Digital Terrain Analysis Levels of Detail OpenGL Shading Language |
| title | A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain Analysis |
| title_full | A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain Analysis |
| title_fullStr | A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain Analysis |
| title_short | A Method of Optimizing Terrain Rendering Using Digital Terrain Analysis |
| title_sort | method of optimizing terrain rendering using digital terrain analysis |
| topic | terrain rendering tessellation potential visible set Digital Terrain Analysis Levels of Detail OpenGL Shading Language |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/10/10/666 |
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