Airport Birds

A manifold can outline a 3D volume, as shown in this AirportBirds2 Landscape File. The wedge-shaped manifold in this simulation encloses hypothetical lines of aircraft approach and takeoff for an airport. The landscape also includes billboard point symbols marking the locations of ponds frequented by flocks of waterfowl, whose flights pose a significant hazard to aircraft taking off from the airport. Viewing this simulation in TNTsim3D, one can move freely around and even through the takeoff manifold, making it easy to see the 3D spatial relationships involved, and thus providing a powerful hazard assessment tool.

The color gradients and shadings on the different sides of this manifold raster were designed to accentuate the 3D effect. This raster was created as a TIFF file in a graphics software program and then georeferenced with 3D control points to define the boundary of the desired 3D volume. The main texture in this Landscape File is a pan-sharpened, natural-color Landsat 7 ETM satellite image of the low-relief area surrounding the airport. The Landscape File also has a Startup script that sets the initial viewer position and the sky image, then exits as soon as any flight control is activated.

25 March 2009
page update: 26 May 11

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