Transformation of 3D geospatial data into CityGML – a case of Prague

Abstract The 3D geoinformation is becoming important for cities and their policies. The cities are therefore exploring the possibilities of 3D virtual city models for more efficient decision making. To maximize the economic benefit of such data, the cities can provide their 3D geospatial data for further usage, and so, new applications can be created. The paper defines a way how the freely available 3D geospatial data of Prague can be transformed from the proprietary data format into the open data model. The 3D geospatial data about the buildings, bridges and digital terrain model were transformed from the 3D shapefile into the CityGML. This is an application independent information model and exchange format. This will allow for the wider use of the 3D city model by different groups of users. The generated CityGML files were further imported into the spatial database with appropriate database CityGML-based scheme. It enables more efficient management and querying of CityGML data. To enable the wider audience to explore the 3D city model, the visualization in the web environment was also explored. The paper also presents the way how the attributes from the external data sources can be connected to the 3D objects in the web environment.