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Kansas
Visualizations - Still Images
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The
first visualizations developed from the Kansas forest dataset were
static images displaying the extent of forest cover at specific dates
corresponding to the aerial imagery. An object-oriented classification
approach, provided by Definies' eCognition™, was used to classify
all six dates of air photos into forest/tree cover, non-forest, roads/building
structure and water classes for each date. Appropriate ground cover
and vegetation image objects were combined to mimic a generic forest
and grassland vegetation cover for this region as well as water and
roads. To complete the models, the classified forest cover data sets
for all six years were brought into VNS, where the appropriate vegetation
classes were linked to the VNS ecotypes. After selecting an appropriate
view angle, still visualizations of the forest cover through time
were rendered by cycling through the classification dates.
The non-animated visualization of multi-temporal land cover data results
in individual stills representing a single date of forest cover derived
from air photos. Multiple dates of still renderings can be viewed
side by side allowing comparisons of forest structure through time.
The stills are based on the idea that forest cover is more easily
understood when it is displayed as a collection of 3D tree objects.
The resulting products are similar in appearance and provide the same
benefits as the landscape/stand scale visualizations from Yellowstone.
This style of geovisualization provides a more familiar and interpretable
way of comparing multiple dates of land cover than a traditional GIS
Polygon view.
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