GPU-based fast volumetric terrain modeling for volumetric GIS

The ability to integrate and process volumetric information has recently become increasingly desirable in traditional Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Volumetric GIS (VGIS) is a new, challenging, and promising field. However, due to the lack of the volumetric data source, many research activities in volumetric GIS have not been further carried out deeply. This paper proposes a Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) based fast volumetric terrain modeling technique using standard graphics hardware. Using this technique can generate the volumetric terrain data from traditional geometric terrain data, such as Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN) or Digital Elevation Model (DEM), at interactive time or even in real time. To achieve fast volumetric terrain modeling, this algorithm makes use of standard OpenGL features to apply GPU acceleration to solid terrain slicing and other graphics operations. Some experimental volumetric terrain results based on USGS DEM data are shown in the paper. The conclusions and further works are described in the end.