Study on a method of design for rural power distribution lines based on 3D GIS technology

The aim of this paper is to study a three-dimensional GIS method of design for power distribution lines in rural areas, by applying SuperMap to the GIS, and to integrate the visual computer programming environment in the secondary development. A three-dimensional model is constructed on the basis of the digital elevation model (DEM) layer. Relational attribute databases store various types of attribute information correlated with the model. The system developed implements the functions of display and browse for the three-dimensional terrain, queries where two dimensions and three dimensions are combined, the analyses of three-dimensional spaces such as submerged simulations and overflying simulations, the production of the section picture through any given geographic path of distribution lines, and the computation of the total length of overhead lines under different climatic conditions.