High-performance visualisation of UAV sensor and image data with raster maps and topography in 3D

The large amount of data collected during a typical flight with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) creates challenges for rapid analysis and inspection. A single two-hour flight can collect about 7200 images if the camera captures at 1 Hz, yielding about 20 GB of data. Additional instruments and sensors all add to the size and complexity of the data set generated by a flight. Efficient visualisation of data is one way to deal with the resulting complexity. This paper presents Norut Geo Viz, a system for visualising data from UAVs both in real time and after landing in 3D on a virtual globe. The system has been developed from scratch to provide a customisable and platform-independent visualisation engine for georeferenced and timestamped data collected by UAVs. The architecture, design and implementation of the system is presented, as well as experiences using the system for visualisation in the field during flight campaigns conducted by Norut.