High-resolution 3D modelling and visualization of Mount Everest

摘要

In the year 1988, a new topographical map 1:50,000 of the Mount Everest region was published by the National Geographic Society. The full map content was derived from aerial images of scale 1:35,000, acquired in a 1984 photogrammetric flight. This highly acclaimed topographical map, produced with Swiss photogrammetric and cartographic know-how, serves until nowadays as an important work of reference. We took the analogue data (images, contours), converted them into digital form through scanning, and produced a texture-mapped 3D computer model. With a DTM of 10 m grid-size and natural texture pixel-size of 1 m this model is currently the best dataset available for an area of 25 by 25 km~2 around the summit of Mount Everest. This paper reports about the production procedure of the model and shows some high-resolution photorealistic visualization results. The dataset has been used in the meantime by cartographers and animation experts for the production of new map-related visualization products and is much sought after by scientists of various disciplines.