Implementation of a Geospatial 3-Dimensional Topology Model

While highly accurate 3D geospatial data is increasingly available, today's commercial geospatial information products do not fully exploit the power of 3D topology to utilize this data in automated decision support systems planned in the Combat Terrain Information Systems (CTIS) program. In the Phase I Army SBIR project just completed, Laser-Scan leveraged its previous experience developing the proprietary Radius Topology, the first implementation of a 2D topology engine in a commercially available relational database management system (RDBMS) and demonstrated the feasibility of a conceptual design for creating, storing, and exploiting 3D topology for geospatial features. All Phase I goals were met or exceeded, setting the stage for follow-on Phase II work that will allow us to research, develop, and integrate extensions to the RDBMS so that a fully three-dimensional GIS will be possible for the first time. These extensions will include the first ISO TC211 19107-compliant implementation, an efficient 3D surface representation, and a 3D spatial querying capability to exploit a 3D spatial index. These advances will allow Army terrain analysts to support mission planning and military operations by performing queries for adjacency, containment, and routing with a level of efficiency not previously possible.