Dear Colleagues,

Growing awareness of our intensively used environment makes 3D information increasingly important in many applications. Recently, important research results have been achieved on automated 3D reconstruction, yet the challenge remains as to how to apply these results to obtain and maintain nationwide 3D data sets.

To bridge this gap between researchers and practitioners, a workshop is being organized as a joint effort of EuroSDR (European Spatial Data Research) and ISPRS WGs III/4 and III/2 (Point Cloud Processing), from 26–28 November 2014, Ordnance Survey, UK. The call for the workshop can be found at: http://www.eurosdr.net/workshops/eurosdrisprs-workshop-efficient-capturing-3d-objects-national-level-focus-buildings-and-infrastructure

This IJGI Special Issue is meant to support the topics of the workshop by collecting and publishing full papers on related issues. Attendees who present an abstract at the workshop are especially invited to submit full papers for publication after the usual review process. However, submission of relevant papers to this issue is also open to other authors.

Topics

Authors are invited to submit papers related to the workshop topics (with focus on the most prominent features in 3D topological models, i.e., buildings and transportation networks), particularly:

• data capture methodologies (e.g., LiDAR, aerial photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning, existing 2D data) of interest for the generation of 3D topological models;
• efficient 3D object capture methodologies for very large areas (e.g., national coverage);
• validation of generated 3D objects because “as automated as possible” might not always be the most efficient solution (i.e., guaranteeing a valid 3D object output for 60% of the objects could be preferable over a solution that targets a higher percentage but requires higher levels of human verification);
• consistency of the generated 3D data with the original 3D source in case of updates;
• maintenance of very large 3D data sets in data base management systems;
• initial data capture versus incremental update of existing national (3D) models, which will require embedding the 3D modeling within established processes of continuous incremental updating of countrywide data sets;
• minimum 3D modeling requirements of National Mapping Agencies (NMAs) and other relevant governmental mapping organizations.

Prof. Dr. Jantien Stoter
A/Prof. Dr. Franz Rottensteiner
Dr. Fabio Remondino
Prof. Dr. Norbert Pfeifer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.