Introduction to the use of terraexplorer In skyline

Terraexplorer is a browser produced by skylineglobe. It is mainly used to view Three-dimensional data created by terrabuider. When it is used to load files, MPT is the terrain file (which can be understood as the Earth), and fly file is the various vector data provided by Skyline, used in the terrain file (MPT) the corresponding two-dimensional or three-dimensional data model is displayed.

From an operational perspective, terraexplorer displays the required data in the perspective of direction (direction), tilt (tilt), long (longitude), lat (latitude), speed (speed) and ALT (height), you can use the mouse or keyboard to change these six parameters to display the three-dimensional data you want to see.

In terms of tool modules, terraexplorer can be roughly divided into project, navigation, measurements, layers, terrain, and 2D objects), 3D objects (3D), synamic objects (dynamic), route (roaming path) and other 9 different tool groups, different effects can be achieved for different editing, navigation, creation, and measurement requirements.

Among the nine tools, I will focus on the measurement tools (measurements ). In my opinion, measurements is the key tool of terraexplorer. You can use it to obtain all the required basic data. In terraexplorer 5.1.3, the measurements tool has 10 different measurement tools, horizontal distance tool (horizontal distance measurement) and aerial distance tool (spatial distance measurement) vertical Distance tool, area tool, coutour map tool, and Terra profile tool) best path tool, line of sight analysis tool, Viewshed analysis tool, and threat dome tool.

1. horizontal distance tool (horizontal distance measurement): click at a position in a 3D scene as the starting point, move the mouse, and click at another position, as the middle node of a line segment, a yellow line appears between the two points, and the horizontal distance (meters) of the line segment is marked in yellow ). By clicking the left mouse button, you can measure the horizontal straight line distance between multiple points in a certain line, and right-click to end the horizontal distance measurement. The message information box in the 3D window displays three measurement results: horizontal distance, height difference, and slope. Horizontal Distance refers to the length of the line (that is, the sum of the horizontal distance between each point ); the height difference refers to the elevation difference between the starting point and the ending point of the line (when measuring the horizontal distance between more than two points, the elevation value of the intermediate point is not considered ); slope refers to the slope value between the start point and the end point.

2. Aerial distance tool (space distance measurement): The operation method is the same as the horizontal distance measurement method. It is used to measure the spatial straight line distance between multiple points. The following information is displayed in the information box: spatial distance, height difference, and slope. Spatial distance refers to the line length composed of each point (that is, the sum of spatial distance between each point ); the height difference refers to the elevation difference between the starting point and the ending point of the line (when measuring the horizontal distance between more than two points, the elevation value of the intermediate point is not considered ); slope refers to the slope value between the start point and the end point.

3. vertical distance tool (vertical distance measurement): used to measure the linear distance in the vertical direction. First, click the bottom of the measurement object with the left mouse button, drag the mouse to the top of the object, and then click the left mouse button to get the height of the object, that is, the straight line distance in the vertical direction. In this way, you can measure the height of multiple objects and mark the height value (meter ). Right-click to end the measurement and clear the yellow line and distance labels in the diagram. The information box contains three information (the last measured value): the height difference between the start point, the second point, and the two points.

4. Area tool: in a 3D scenario, use the left mouse button to draw a polygon of any shape and right-click it to end. The area (square kilometer) and perimeter (meter) of the polygon are displayed in the information box ). (Note: If the boundary line of the drawn polygon overlaps with itself, the boundary line turns red. The area items in the information box are displayed as "area cannot be calculated", and the perimeter value is displayed normally .)

5. coutour map tool (contour map): In a 3D scenario, left-click the first point as the starting position and drag the mouse to display a rectangle, click the second point (the diagonal point of the rectangle) at the target position to obtain the terrain covered by the rectangular plane. Set the attributes of a contour map in the contour map attribute box.
Main affected parameters include:
Display style: a contour chart is displayed in three types: Contour Lines, colorized terrain, and contour lines and colorized terrain ).
Coverage area: covers two areas: rectangle and entire terrain, which show only the contour map within the range of the drawn rectangle, the contour map of the entire terrain.
Contour Lines color: The color of the contour line.
Contour Lines interval: equal height of a contour chart. The smaller the spacing value, the more intensive the contour lines are. Select a proper value based on the actual range.
Close the attribute box to end the editing of the contour map.
(Note: When a contour map is created and displayed only in the form of a contour line or in the form of a contour line and a colored terrain at the same time, a Tool tips is automatically created on the contour line ). When you place the cursor over a contour line in a 3D scenario, the elevation of the contour line is "XX meters .)

6. Terra profile tool (terrain plane analysis): Click the start point in a 3D scenario and draw a line for slope analysis. Click the left button to confirm the second point and right click to end. The information box displays the spatial distance, height difference, and slope information between the two points. The terrain slope information box is displayed, showing the elevation values of a series of slope points from the start point to the end point, the main sampling point is a white vertical line, and the secondary sampling point is a blue vertical line.

7. Best path tool (Optimal Path Analysis): In a 3D scenario, left-click the first position (starting point), drag the mouse, and a straight line appears, click the second point (End Point) at the target position, and calculate the optimal path between two points based on the Terrain elevation and the target on the ground.

8. Line of sight Analysis Tool (line of sight analysis): After clicking the button, the line of sight analysis attribute box appears. You can set some parameters.
This function is used for point-to-point visual analysis, that is, whether the line of sight between two points is visible.
The left mouse clicks a position in the 3D scenario for the first time. As the observation point, the left mouse clicks (Second, Third ,......) Other positions are used as the target point. Right-click the target point to end. The line of sight is displayed from the observation point to each target point. Green indicates that there is an obstacle between the two points.
The observed viewpoint is unique, but the target point can be multiple. You can set the height of the viewpoint.

9. Viewshed analysis tool: After you click the button, the view analysis attribute box appears. You can set some parameters.
Type: specifies the type. There are two types: Face and line. When the line type is selected, only the line of sight between the observation point and the target point is calculated. When the face type is selected, all lines of sight of the observation point and all points on a sector Arc are calculated.
Field of view: sets the angle of view. The default value is 53 °.
Left-click a position in a 3D scene as an observation point and drag the mouse to display a sector (representing the range visible from the observation point ), the left mouse clicks a position for the second time as the end position of the target range to analyze the field of view. A series of rays from the observation point to the slice surface appear on the slice surface. Green indicates that the range is visible, red indicates that it is invisible when viewed from the observation point.

10. Threat dome tool (space Impact Area Analysis): click the button to see the space impact area analysis attribute box. You can set some parameters. Modify the main parameter range and set the radius of the affected area.
In a 3D scenario, a circular area appears, move the mouse, and click the left mouse button at the target position to determine the center of the circle and calculate the affected space area, obtain the half sphere and a series of rays starting from the center point (some areas are not affected due to the blocking of objects such as terrain or buildings ). The red range indicates the affected space area.