Abstract. V3Geo is a cloud-based repository for publishing virtual 3D models in geoscience. The system allows storage, search and visualisation of models typically acquired using techniques such as photogrammetry and laser scanning. The platform has been developed to handle models at the range of scales typically used by geoscientists, from microscopic, hand samples and fossils through to outcrop sections covering metres to tens of kilometres. The cloud storage system serves the models to a purpose-built 3D web viewer. Models are tiled to ensure efficient streaming over the internet. The web viewer allows 3D models to be interactively explored without the need for specialist software to be installed. A measurement tool enables users to measure simple dimensions, such as widths, thicknesses, fault throws and more. V3Geo allows very large models comprising multiple sections and is designed to include additional interpretation layers. The specific focus on geoscience data is supported by defined metadata and a classification schema. Public and private storage are available, and public models are assigned Creative Commons licenses to govern content usage. This paper presents V3Geo as a sustainable resource for the geoscience community, including the motivation, main characteristics, and features. Example usage scenarios are highlighted: from undergraduate geology teaching, supporting virtual geoscience education, and preparing virtual field trips based on V3Geo models. Finally, best practise guidelines for preparing 3D model contributions for publication on V3Geo are included as an Appendix.
<p><strong>V3Geo </strong>is a cloud-based repository for virtual 3D models in geoscience, allowing storage, searching tools and visualisation of 3D models typically acquired through photogrammetry (structure-from-motion), laser scanning or other laboratory-based 3D modelling methods. The platform has been developed to store and access 3D models at the range of scales and applications required by geoscientists &#8211; from microscopic, hand samples and fossils through to outcrop sections covering metres to tens of kilometres. A 3D web viewer efficiently streams the model data over the Internet connection, allowing 3D models to be explored interactively. A measurement tool makes it possible for user to measure simple dimensions, such as widths, thicknesses, fault throws and more. V3Geo differs from other services in that it allows very large models (consisting of multiple sections), is designed to include additional interpretations in future versions, and focuses specifically on geoscience through metadata and a classification schema.</p><p>The initial version of V3Geo was released in 2020 in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of providing virtual tools in a time of cancelled field excursions, field-based courses and fieldwork. The repository has been accepting community contributions, based on a guideline for preparing and submitting high quality 3D datasets. Contributions are subject to a technical review to ensure underlying quality and reliability for scientific and professional usage. Model description pages give an overview of the datasets, with references, and datasets themselves are assigned Creative Commons licences. The 3D viewer can be embedded in webpages, making it easy to include V3Geo models in virtual teaching resources. V3Geo allows increased accessibility to field localities when travel or mobility is restricted, as well as providing the foundation for virtual field trips. The database currently includes around 200 virtual 3D models from around the world, and will continue to develop and grow, aiming to become a valuable resource for the geoscience community. Future updates will include tools to facilitate upload and technical review, interpretations and Digital Object Identifiers.</p>
Over the past five years the use of 3D models in the Earth Sciences has become ubiquitous. These models, termed Virtual outcrops, are most commonly generated using Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, an image-based modelling method that has achieved widespread uptake and utilization. Data for these models is commonly acquired using remotely piloted aerial vehicles (RPVs), commonly called drones. The purpose of this document is to present a basic acquisition methodology, which is based on the workflows used by the authors for the acquisition of over 500 virtual outcrops over the last decade. This article is part of a series from the editors of V3Geo, which is an online forum for sharing high quality virtual 3D geoscience models. Virtual outcrops submitted to V3Geo are subject to a technical quality control to ensure that data can be reliably utilized by the wider professional and scientific community. This document provides guidelines for the robust acquisition of data which are required to build high quality models suitable for sharing in V3Geo. The document focuses on outcrop selection, mission planning, RPV setup, data acquisition and management. Related documents in this series cover data processing and model building.
<p>In September 2020, the Corona crisis offered us an opportunity to develop and test a blended real and virtual interdisciplinary field mapping class, as well as revealing the need for, and stimulating development of new web-based tools for structural interpretation.</p><p>Universit&#228;t Mainz&#8217; usual Master&#8217;s advanced field mapping, and Universit&#228;t T&#252;bingen&#8217;s usual Bachelor&#8217;s mapping classes were replaced with combinations of (i) virtual field mapping of Jurassic-Cretaceous sedimentary units at Molinos, Teruel Province, Spain, and (ii) field mapping of metamorphic rocks in the Mittelrhein Gorge and the Arh Valley, and outcrops of sedimentary rocks near T&#252;bingen, Germany, which the students were mostly able to access on day trips using public transport or by bicycle.</p><p>For the Molinos part of the exercise both groups were offered hand specimens containing distinctive fossils, linked to locations (and pseudo-locations) by google .kmz files, a variety of structural measurements also linked via .kmz files, and detailed satellite imagery within which mappable geological units display distinct characteristics. Introductions to the stratigraphy were made in three virtual outcrop sections examined in Google Street View from within Google Earth, and via web-based photogrammetric 3D outcrop models made available on the V3Geo virtual 3D geoscience platform. The students then extrapolated this stratigraphy based on the satellite imagery and .kmz file information.</p><p>Our perception, validated by student feedback, is that the real parts of both field excursions were very important since they allowed us to teach and refine mapping and compass methodology and best demonstrate how to analyze 3D geometries of geological structures. Universit&#228;t Mainz students particularly benefited from being able to visit locations where we had already made 3D outcrop models and offered a digital excursion, in the Ahr Valley (Rhenish Massif). They were able to compare real structural measurements with those derived from the precisely georeferenced 3D models, which enhanced their ability to subsequently obtain such information solely from the models. Although final student maps were of comparable quality to those produced in the field, structural interpretations were hampered by a lack of field measurements. In many cases, the Google Earth DEM is of too low resolution and ways should be found to include higher-resolution DEMs in web-based data sets.</p><p>Overall, we think there were advantages compared to traditional field mapping, such as (i) enhanced evidence that methods like &#8216;structure contouring&#8217; were used in all mapping, (ii) we were stimulated to teach the students to use digital methods to acquire field data, such as StraboSpot and Stereonet11 Apps. We observed these tools, and others we were unaware of, being used in combination with traditional paper and compass during the real mapping exercise. We hope to continue to employ this blended teaching approach even when the Corona crisis passes. This will be facilitated by our development of further 3D outcrop models, .kmz files with key information about outcrops in the Mittelrhein, and especially, web-based (rather than PC-based) tools to extract structural data such as plane and line orientations from 3D outcrop models and enable collaborative work on one data set.</p>
Abstract. V3Geo is a cloud-based repository for publishing virtual 3D models in geoscience. The system allows storage, search and visualisation of mesh models typically acquired using techniques such as photogrammetry and laser scanning. The platform has been developed to handle models at the range of scales typically used by geoscientists from microscopic, hand samples and fossils through to outcrop sections or terrain covering metres to tens of kilometres. The cloud storage system serves the models to a purpose-built 3D web viewer. Models are tiled to ensure efficient streaming over the Internet. The web viewer allows 3D models to be interactively explored without the need for specialist software to be installed. A measurement tool enables users to gauge simple dimensions, such as widths, thicknesses, and fault throws. V3Geo allows very large models comprising multiple sections and is designed to include additional interpretation layers. The specific focus on geoscience data is supported by defined metadata and a classification schema. Public and private storage is available, and public models are assigned Creative Commons licenses to govern content usage. This paper presents V3Geo as a sustainable resource for the geoscience community, including the motivation and main characteristics and features. Example usage scenarios are highlighted: from undergraduate geology teaching, supporting virtual geoscience education and preparing virtual field trips based on V3Geo models. Finally, best practice guidelines for preparing 3D model contributions for publication on V3Geo are included as the Appendix.
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