Skip to main content
Log in

Automatic delineation of sky view in urban canyons by 3-dimensional GIS

  • Surveying and Geo-Spatial Information Engineering
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope

Abstract

Accurate delineation of sky view and determination of view-factors in urban canyons is crucial parameter used to characterize radiation properties on urban areas and to express the relationship between the visible area of the sky and the portion of the sky covered by buildings viewed from a specific point of observation. However, to date, most sky view and view-factor calculation endeavors have been done manually and by high cost-equipment methods. As a mean to resolve this problem, this paper presents the use of 3-dimensional Geographic Information System (GIS) for simulating a spatial representation of urban canyons obstructions to sky vault automatically in real-time, in place of many other high cost-equipment methods for delineating sky view and determining view factor, while allowing an automatic delineation of urban canyon geometry. Furthermore, this tool can simulate the current constellation status of positioning-satellite like Global Positioning System (GPS), and evaluate the satellite-based positioning environment concern to signal-shading problem.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bärring, L., Mattsson, J.O., and Lindqvist, S. (1985). “Canyon geometry, street temperatures and urban heat island in Malmö, Sweden.”J. of Climatology, Vol. 5, pp. 433–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blennow, K. (1995). “Sky view factors from high-resolution scanned fish-eye lens photographic negatives.”Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 12, pp. 1357–1362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, L. (2000). “Improved one dimensional energy balance modeling utilizing sky-view factors determined from digital imagery.”Proceedings of the 10th SIRWEC Conference, 22–24 March 2000, Davos, Switzerland.

  • Chapman, L., Thornes, J.E., and Bradley, A.V. (2001). “Rapid determination of canyon geometry parameters for use in surface radiation budgets.”Theoretical and Applied Climatology, Vol. 69, pp. 81–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, G.T. and Watson, I.D. (1984). “The determination of view-factors in urban canyons.”Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology, Vol. 23, pp. 329–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lohmar, F.J. (1999). “Optimized planning of GPS-based measurements on point with restricted satellite visibilities.”Proc. ION GPS 1999, Nashvelle, Tennessee, UT., pp. 85–89.

  • Oke, T.R. (1992).Boundary Layer Climates. Routledge, pp. 232, 237, 286, 288, 293–294.

  • Oke, T.R. (1981). “Canyon geometry and the nocturnal urban heat island: comparison of scale model and field observations.”Journal of Climatology, Vol. 1, No. 1-4, pp. 237–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratti, C., Sabatino, S., Britter, R., Brown, M., Caton, F., and Burian, S. (1999). “Analysis of 3-D urban databases with respect to pollution dispersion for a number of European and American cities.” (http:// www.dmu.dk/AtmosphericEnvironment/TRAPOS/Abstracts/CERC_2.pdf).

  • Souza, L. and Rodrigues, D. (2003). “A 3D-GIS Extension for sky view factors assessment in urban environment.”Proc. of 8 th Int. Conference on Computers in Urban Planning and Urban Management, Sendai, Japan, 27–19 May. CD-ROM.

  • Steyn, D.G., Hay, J.D., Watson, I.D., and Johnson, G.T. (1986). “The determination of sky-view factors in urban environments using video imagery.”Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, Vol. 3, pp. 759–764.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suh, Y.C., Konishi, Y., Hakamata, T., and Shibasaki, R. (2003). “Evaluation of positioning service level for Intelligent Transportation Systems in urban area using a simulation tool.”Proc. of ION GPS/GNSS 2003, Portland, OR. CD-ROM.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Suh, YC. Automatic delineation of sky view in urban canyons by 3-dimensional GIS. KSCE J Civ Eng 8, 227–232 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02829122

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02829122

Keywords

Navigation