Virtual Reality at Regional Scale: Exploring Terrestrial Bodies in
Immersive 3D Environments
Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) is an important tool for several applications in
science, industry, and education. Previous studies have already shown
how the use of VR at full scale is an effective tool for outcrops
characterization even at centimetre scale [1]. We aim to extend the
use of this approach in various fields of planetary exploration, from
outcrop to regional scale. This regional approach may provide an
effective support for the planning and management of future missions,
but also for geological and geomorphological studies and mapping. Among
the most obvious advantages of the use of virtual reality are the lack
of optical deformations and approximate dimensions of the
two-dimensional display (such as display, projections and printed
cartography) and the opportunity to layer various levels of information
through a new concept of superposition. The VR environment is derived
from several multi-scale elements: medium to high-resolution elevation
data, photogrammetric 3D models, orthophotos, multispectral data,
thematic maps and vector data transformed into three-dimensional digital
representations placed in the study context. The first tests are based
on stereogrammetry (using USGS ISIS [2] and NASA ASP [3]) of the
lunar LRO (LROC-NAC) [4] and Martian MRO (CTX and HiRISE) [5]
and MEX (HRSC) [6] missions and on data and cartography realized
through external open-source GIS tools (GDAL libraries, QGIS, GRASS) and
virtual tools developed to be used within the VR environment. In our
tests, for example, the Rock Abundance analysis results have been shown
not only as thematic maps but also as digital representations of
floating boulders on the surface. This has been achieved by placing
major rock elements (>1m) in the position detected from
satellite imagery and smaller elements, estimated from size-frequency
distributions studies, with a preliminary semi-random distribution.
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M. S. et al. (2010), Space Sci. Rev., 150: 81-124. [5] McEwen A. S.
et al. (2007), J. Geophys. Res. Planets, 112.E5 [6] Neukum G. &
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