The development of an integrated technical–methodical approach to visualise hydrological processes in an exemplary post-mining area in Central Germany

The rapid development of software and hardware during the last decade caused a paradigm change in data processing. That is why, in geosciences, monolithic GIS systems are increasingly complemented by web-based services and multimedia content, while geovisualisation is becoming more popular to visualise and analyse geoscientific processes. An increasing realism in geovisualisations tends to result in more complex geodata and metadata, requiring sophisticated solutions for efficient data management. This paper describes an integrated approach to geographic data processing and geovisualisation in an open, modular system. A former open-pit mining area in Central Germany characterised by a highly dynamic landscape and rapidly changing natural and anthropogenic processes has been chosen as an exemplary test site. Here, geovisualisation is used to depict the extreme changes in the landscape. The focus is on hydrological processes, which are highly complex and difficult to comprehend. The described approach will show how heterogeneous data can be used to support the understanding and transfer of knowledge.