3D modeling and visualization of geological boreholes on digital earth platforms

In order to represent and disseminate geological boreholes on digital earth platforms, we present an automatic method for the modeling and visualization of boreholes in urban areas. At first, several borehole models with different levels of detail, such as point placemarks, scatter dots and tube models, are created according to a standard form of borehole database. And then, a LOD-based multi-scale representation is constructed to visualize massive boreholes. Finally, borehole models are loaded into a digital earth platform for 3D visualization and spatial analysis. A concrete example of applying this method to create borehole models in Shanghai shows that the modeling process is simple, automatic and effective. In addition, borehole models generated from this method are well-suited to the dissemination, integration and visualization on the Internet. Therefore, the widespread future use of this method will help earth scientists share their borehole data more easily. This will make borehole information accessible to a broad user base, and may promote the development on the social service of geological information in urban areas.