3D mash-up maps let you ‘edit’ the world

December 1, 2009 | Source: New Scientist Tech

(Ordnance Survey)

As part of a project to demonstrate the potential of 3D mapping, lasers were fired at the coastal resort of Bournemouth in southern England from the ground and from the air to capture the height of buildings, trees and other features, using a technique called Lidar.

Adding information from aerial photos and traditional surveys produced a full-color 3D map, built up from more than 700 million points. The map is accurate to 4 centimeters in x, y and z; by comparison, 3D structures in Google Earth are accurate to about 15 meters.