Capturing, processing and analysing 3D Data in a National Mapping Agency

Abstract. National Mapping Agencies (NMAs) have traditionally mapped their respective countries in two dimensions, taking inherently three-dimensional information and generalizing it into a flat projection plane. While some NMAs have moved completely to a three dimensional data model, many are still working in 2D, often augmented by height attributes which bring the data slightly closer to a 3D model of the world. As data capture, data processing and data analytics systems and software have evolved, it is now easier than it has ever been to collect, view and process 3D data. National Mapping Agencies have acknowledged this by moving towards 3D geospatial data models, although the approach taken, and the type of 3D data provided to users, varies between different countries. This paper describes the current position of Ordnance Survey, Britain’s national mapping agency, as it develops prototype 3D products. It describes the technical methods used to create a 3D product together with the business methods used to test the market, understand the customer, and provide a product that is both technically feasible to produce and financially viable to create and market to customers.