Application of three-dimensional GIS to water resources

Hydrological features are always important information for water resources computing. 3D (three-dimensional) GIS (Geographic Information System) technique provides a feature extracting and 3D scene displaying platform for management and decision. In our case study, contrasting and analyzing current three system development patterns, we have presented the 3D development tool and system architecture. On the base of research on 3D scene construction by OpenGL and hydrological feature extraction in GIS, we have taken the Tangjiashan Barrier Lake in Sichuan, China, as a study area in the system implementation. Because of basic development, the system is independent of any current GIS platform or control and able to extend function flexibly. The system also breaks through the limitation of traditional two-dimensional display and enables hydrological analysis. The proposed method can be applied into other relevant projects by reason of flexible function, lower cost and cross-platform.