On 28th and 29th of November, 2014, EuroSDR and two ISPRS working groups (ISPRS WG III/4 - 3D Scene Analysis and ISPRS WG III/2 - 3D Point Cloud Processing) organised a workshop on ”Efficient capturing of 3D objects at a national level: with a focus on buildings and infrastructure”.

Growing awareness of our intensively used environment makes 3D information increasingly important in many applications. Recently, important research results have been achieved on automated 3D reconstruction, yet the challenge remains as to how to apply these results to obtain and maintain nationwide 3D data sets. This workshop was organised to bridge this gap between researchers and practitioners and aimed at specifying the minimum 3D modeling requirements of NMAs; identifying, together with industry and researches, the most efficient 3D object capture methodologies for very large areas (e.g. national coverage); and explicitly addressing the distinction between initial data capture and the incremental update of existing national models. The last will require embedding the 3D modeling within established processes of continuous incremental updating of countrywide data sets.

Presentations were given on 3 main topics: the 3D creation process, use of large 3D data sets and 3D data capturing for nationwide maps. In addition, the participants discussed in break out sessions about user requirements and generic 3D data models for 3D topography.

Abstracts of the workshop can be found here.

In addition to the workshop, a special issue of the International Journal of Geo-Information is being planned. This IJGI Special Issue is meant to support the topics of the workshop by collecting and publishing full papers on related issues. Submission of relevant papers to this issue is open to every author, not limited to authors who presented at the workshop. Deadline is 31st of March 2015. Further information here: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijgi/special_issues/3D_capturing