Information management oriented virtual forest landscape construction and its applications

Computer modeling and visualization of forest landscapes recently has become a hot topic of research in the fields such as ecology, forest management, physical geography and botany. We reviewed multi-scale forest modeling and visualization and related rendering techniques. The principle and a technological framework of information management oriented virtual forest landscape construction are proposed, which integrate an interactive 3D subsystem with a GIS-based 2D forest resource management subsystem, taking Zhangpu County forest in Fujian Province as a pilot study. The system has capability for individual tree modeling, realistic forest stand 3D scene construction, and navigation, interactive information query, analysis, and simulation of the forest growth under the conditions of tree competition and thinning in 3D environment. In addition, future works are discussed in conclusion.