
Guide to Making 3D Maps with Satellite Imagery in R - tylermw
https://www.tylermw.com/a-step-by-step-guide-to-making-3d-maps-with-satellite-imagery-in-r/
======
tylermw
Author here, I wrote this to show how you can use the rayshader package to
generate 3D maps in R using free and open data (in this case, Landsat 8
imagery and SRTM elevation data). You can check out rayshader's Github repo
here:

Github:
[https://www.github.com/tylermorganwall/rayshader](https://www.github.com/tylermorganwall/rayshader)

And browse the documentation (with rendered examples) and README on its
website: [https://www.rayshader.com](https://www.rayshader.com)

~~~
andybak
On a side note - you don't know a free tile server that serves elevation
tiles, do you?

~~~
jointpdf
Here are a couple more ways to get SRTM tiles:

\- OpenTopography (also has 3DEP/LIDAR data):
[https://portal.opentopography.org/datasetMetadata?otCollecti...](https://portal.opentopography.org/datasetMetadata?otCollectionID=OT.042013.4326.1)

\- SRTM 30M tile tool:
[https://dwtkns.com/srtm30m/](https://dwtkns.com/srtm30m/)

~~~
pks016
Unfortunately, SRTM 30M tile tool is asking for credentials for me.

~~~
tylermw
You can also query elevation tiles using the `elevatr` package and use them in
a similar way.

------
sailfast
This is super interesting - I had no idea you could do this kind of thing with
R. Very cool and a great step-by-step guide.

I also second the "rite of passage to fight with GDAL" sentiment :)

I'd also recommend Robert Simmon's introduction to GDAL for stitching, etc:
[http://www.openvisconf.com/2017/#rsimmon-video-
item](http://www.openvisconf.com/2017/#rsimmon-video-item)

~~~
tylermw
The R GIS ecosystem has seen great strides recently! I've just been working on
one part of it: 3D visualization and computational hillshading/raytracing.

And that video looks like a great resource--I'll put it on my watch list.

~~~
kylebarron
You should check out Mapdeck [0]. It's R bindings to deck.gl, a JS 2D/3D geo-
visualization package that I've been contributing to. As of version 8.1,
there's a TerrainLayer [1] to render an interactive map with a 3D terrain
mesh.

[0]:
[https://github.com/SymbolixAU/mapdeck](https://github.com/SymbolixAU/mapdeck)
[1]: [https://deck.gl/#/documentation/deckgl-api-
reference/layers/...](https://deck.gl/#/documentation/deckgl-api-
reference/layers/terrain-layer)

------
hughes
Here I thought you'd be doing photogrammetry or something to produce 3d maps
directly from 2d imagery.

Maybe title should be "making 3d maps with satellite imagery and 3d maps" ;)

------
burger_moon
Is this similar to what vricon[1] does?

I was searching around and found something noting they won a contract to build
the Army's One World Terrain 3d model. This OWT appears to be some kind of
classification for applying sat imagery over terrain data sets, maybe?

[1] [https://www.vricon.com](https://www.vricon.com)

~~~
tylermw
It looks like they're a firm that does large-scale photogrammetry to build 3D
models worldwide--this is just a tutorial on how to combine existing
topographic datasets (e.g SRTM or a USGS elevation product) with satellite
imagery to generate small-scale 3D maps in R. Similar in concept, vastly
different in scale and execution

~~~
burger_moon
Ok thanks for the explanation! I read through the tutorial and it looks like a
fun project to get started in.

One thing also for readers is that
[https://dwtkns.com/srtm30m](https://dwtkns.com/srtm30m) requires an account
with [https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov](https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov) to
download tiles.

~~~
tylermw
Good to know, thanks! I'll add a note mentioning the need for an account.

------
MR4D
Has this been tried on something like a cityscape?

If so, it seems like you could fly a drone with two cameras at relatively low
altitude and get insane resolution for things like cityscapes at a pretty low
cost

====== EDIT: Meant to add that your webpage discussion was great & thanks for
sharing!

~~~
ladberg
Most "satellite view" imagery of cities is actually done with planes and
drones. I just looked up a 3D model of my house in Apple Maps and can see
stuff with a few centimeter resolution, which is much higher than any
satellite can do.

------
watertrash
Is anyone else getting a mandatory login page when trying using the SRTM tile
downloader?

------
aryx
How do I 3d print it with colors?

~~~
tylermw
No color support, but you can export the map to an STL file with the function
`save_3dprint()`. You can declare the maximum width/depth and it will scale
the model to the size you've specified.

------
rantwasp
this is super cool. i think we should do this in tiles and after that assemble
a map of all of the US. The Sattelite data seems to be there, it's just time
to download, build + stich, right?

