Modeling three-dimensional terrain in urban propagation environment using geospatial data in cyberspace

Realistic 3D modeling of propagation environments is a key step for accurate path loss/gain predictions using ray-tracing methods. As the cell sizes of wireless communications systems are getting smaller, the detailed geometries of the terrain and building structures should be considered. This paper deals with the extraction of terrain elevation data available in Google Earth. A region in Rosslyn City, VA, is investigated and the 3D terrain is reconstructed. The terrain data is combined with the building structures and the path gains along 5 routes are simulated and compared with the results. Good match between our simulation results and the measurement results is observed except in some regions. With the continued demand on improving the accuracy of the developed propagation prediction models, we have identified some issues that need further study. These are related to the accuracy of the GE elevation data, the accuracy of the terrain representation, and the impact of the ground representation on the obtained simulation results. We will investigate these general issues and the results will be presented in the conference.