An ArcScene plug-in for volumetric data conversion, modeling and spatial analysis

Representation of volumetric data is necessary in hydrology, meteorology, ecology, environmental science and so on for modeling and visualization. As popular GIS software, ArcScene supports MultiPatch format for modeling and spatial analysis of volumetric data. It also supports conversion of 3D file formats into MultiPatch. But there are obvious limitations: (1) ArcScene does not support conversion of popular 3D formats such as Wavefront Objects (OBJ) and Visualization ToolKit (VTK) into MultiPatch; (2) after the conversion, the entire dataset only forms one patch which is inconvenient for further spatial analysis; (3) ArcScene does not support 3D contouring. In this study, we have successfully developed an ArcScene plug-in for converting OBJ and VTK file formats into MultiPatch, for accessing and editing MultiPatch files, and for tracing 3D contours based on MultiPatch. The ArcScene plug-in is characteristic of a time complexity of O(N), strong data structure in terms of spatial analysis, user-friendly operation, high robustness and good extendibility, and therefore it enriches ArcScene functionalities and users can benefit from the new plug-in for various applications.