Capabilities

Usability and Productivity

Data Fusion

Combine aerial and satellite photography, terrain elevation data, standard photos, and feature data in a wide range of formats and projections, and of unlimited size to create a photo-realistic 3D environment. Data is compressed to minimize disk storage and network bandwidth.

Flexible Deployment Options

Use SkylineGlobe software in the way that best suits you:
> Integrate a 3D environment into web applications or into desktop applications.
> Work in a networked or disconnected (off-line) mode.
> Make content available to the public or restrict access to secure networks and authorized users.

Mobile Application

Skyline’s Android App features touch screen navigation, a mobile-optimized user interface, and basic tools and capabilities, so you can navigate freely through local and remote terrain databases and 3DML city layers, fly to favorite locations, search SkylineGlobe address server and locate the camera according to your GPS position. Entire projects or subsets of projects can easily be published for use on android devices.

Realistic Visualization

Wide Range of Geospatial Data

Build rich 3D visualizations by creating, importing, manipulating and editing a wide range of geospatial data:
> GIS feature layers
> Raster and elevation layers > 3D mesh layers (3DML)
> 2D objects
> 3D textured objects
> CAD models
> Buildings
> Dynamic objects
> Terrain modification objects
> Video clips
> Point cloud models

Subterranean Exploration

Add objects, explore and query the subsurface layers of your terrain.

GPS Sensor Feed

Integrate live GPS sensor feed from multiple sources for real-time 3D situational awareness visualization.

Video on Terrain

Integrate live or recorded video feed directly into the 3D environment. Telemetry data (either file-based or KLV digitally encoded), which holds positioning information for the camera, allows the video to be projected over the same geographical area that is captured in the video.

Indoor Navigation

Use SkylineGlobe’s Indoor Editor tool to view and freely navigate the interior of 3D structures, such as buildings and tunnels.

Advanced Drawing Tools

Create simple and/or customized objects including Mil-Std-2525b symbols, and urban designs. Easily add multiple instances of the same object, such as power lines, pipelines, fences and walls.

3D Modeling

Accelerated Loading and Streaming of 3D Models

Easily merge 3D mesh layers and/or layers with individually referenced 3D models into a stream-optimized and fully textured urban model (3DML) that can be viewed and queried by TerraExplorer clients.

Simplified Creation of 3D Models

Using an entirely automated conversion process, generate high resolution and photo textured 3D mesh models from a set of standard 2D photographs.

3D Model Processing

The XPL urban model algorithm provides seamless transition between different Levels of Detail (LOD) as the viewer position is changed, enabling you to quickly load highly-detailed urban models with hundreds of thousands of buildings. This SkylineGlobe technology uses multi-resolution geometries and multi-resolution textures to accelerate loading speed and reduce memory consumption.

Analysis

Measurement Tools

SkylineGlobe software provides you with tools for measuring distances, coordinates and areas in the 3D world:
> Horizontal - Measure the horizontal distance between two or more points.
> Aerial - Measure the aerial distance between two or more points.
> Vertical Difference - Measure the vertical difference between two points.
> Terrain Area (and Perimeter) - Measure the area of a terrain region. The measurement can either ignore terrain contours (horizontal projection - 2D measurement) or take them into account (3D measurement).
> 3D Plane Area (and Perimeter) - Measure the area of a polygon on an arbitrary plane.

Terrain Analysis Tools

Our advanced terrain analysis tools include:
> Line of Sight - Graphically represent the visibility of specific locations in the 3D World from a selected position.
> 3D Viewshed - Create a 3D viewshed on buildings/ models and on bare terrain.
> Dynamic 3D Viewshed - Create a graphical representation of the view from a moving object.
> Viewshed Query - Analyze the visibility from multiple viewshed observer viewpoints to a selected area.
> Viewshed - Create a graphical representation of the view on the terrain from either a defined single point or a series of points (route).
> Threat Dome - Analyze the volume visible from a given point on the terrain.
> Selection Shadow - Display a shadow effect for selected objects.
> Shadow Query - Calculate and graphically represent overall shadow coverage or a particular object’s shadow effect in a specified area.
> Slope Map - Apply palette colors according to degree of slope and slope arrows to indicate slope direction.
> Contour Map - Apply palette colors to each elevation level and connect points of equal elevation with contour lines.
> Flood Tool - Calculate land covered by flooding.
> Volume Tool - Analyze amount of terrain removed from or added to the terrain surface.
> Best Path - Calculate best path without exceeding definable climb and descent slope limits.
> Snapshot Comparison - Create and compare snapshots showing different versions of the area in view in the 3D Window by showing or hiding objects in the Project Tree.
> Imagery Comparison - Compare 2 imagery layers or an imagery layer to the base terrain by dynamically clipping or modifying transparency of an overlaying layer.

Advanced Spatial and Attribute Queries

Fine-tune feature information that is displayed on the terrain or create a new project layer or file based on the filtered layer using the Attribute Table tool. Perform spatial queries based on a selected or drawn geometry to search for features within a given area or based on their relation to other features. The selected features can then be merged into a single feature, clipped one from another, or exported to a new file.

Customization

Customized Solutions

Using SkylineGlobe’s comprehensive API, you can freely design and develop 3D geospatial applications based on SkylineGlobe technology and data.
> Robust API enables power users to easily customize 3D content, layers, tools, and functions.
> Powerful COM based API designed for Windows developers.
> Easy to use JavaScript classes optimized for web developers.
> A set of SkylineGlobe ActiveX controls for your customers to embed in their applications.
> Full API documentation and developer community provides better support.

Localization

Adapt your application for foreign users and customers by easily translating all menus and dialog boxes into any required language.

Enhanced Ribbon Customization

Advanced ribbon customization options allow integration of custom tools into the application ribbon. Developers can add, delete and reorder ribbon entries, as well as add a range of tool types ranging from floating tools to tools with no user interface and auto-start tools, to create a user interface tailored to their specific requirements.

Interoperability

Open Standards

SkylineGlobe software supports several Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web standards: Web Map Service (WMS), Web Map Tiling Service (WMTS), Web Feature Service (WFS), Web Feature Service Transactional (WFS-T), and Web Catalog Service (CSW). These services enable you to directly load raster, elevation and feature layers from enterprise or Internet OGC sources, and share all your map image and feature data with any application that reads these standard OGC protocols.

Accessing Enterprise Data

Skyline directly supports a long list of file formats and server protocols (i.e. Shape, KML/KMZ, Oracle, WFS/WMS, ArcSDE, PostgreSQL, SQL Server 2008 and many more).

Multiple Coordinate Systems

Both client and server support fusion of data in different coordinate systems, with reprojection on-the-fly.

Collaboration

SkylineGlobe software supports real-time collaboration sessions, in which users can fly-through and study a 3D environment together, and make additions or changes to the 3D environment that will be seen by their partners.

Catalog Database

Efficiently store, organize and manage connections with spatial databases, layers and projects. TerraCatalog provides a common repository with a powerful search function that promotes data collaboration between projects.

Presentations

Share dynamic 3D visualizations with others by recording your navigation through the 3D World, determining in each presentation step the precise view in the 3D Window - what layers, objects, and messages are displayed, what tools are opened, and the current date and time. Routes can be created in the way you find most efficient and intuitive using any of the flexible available options, including flying through the terrain recording an exact route, adding sequential location waypoints, and following a dynamic object. An easy to use editor enables you to set step timings and transitions and modify step sequence.

System Performance

Optimized Cache Databases

SkylineGlobe restructures 3D data into optimized cache databases, providing fast loading and efficient data streaming to multiple users.

Dynamic Updates

SkylineGlobe enables you to dynamically and instantly update imagery and elevation data, without rebuilding the entire database.

DirectConnect

SkylineGlobe servers allow you to skip terrain database creation and stream data in its native form directly from your enterprise data sets. Advanced mechanisms leverage cache technology for performance and scalability optimizations.

Powerful Servers

SkylineGlobe’s client-server model has been optimized to handle thousands of concurrent users accessing virtually unlimited sized databases.

Scalability

SkylineGlobe technology is infinitely scalable, allowing multiple servers even in different locations to simultaneously stream vast 3D databases. In multi-processor environments, the load is automatically shared between processors.

Distributed Data Management

SkylineGlobe technology fuses data on-the-fly from multiple remote servers chained together within one or more organizations.

Federated Network

SkylineGlobe’s distributed data concept enables a cluster of geographically distributed TerraGate servers (nodes) to share each other’s geospatial data, fusing it into a comprehensive consolidated dataset for all users. This allows enterprise level management and scalability, while also providing high-level availability, and bandwidth optimization.