Relief Visualization Toolbox
Relief visualization toolbox (RVT) plugin helps scientists visualise digital elevation model datasets.
The Relief Visualization Toolbox was developed to help scientists visualise raster elevation model datasets. We narrowed down the selection to include techniques proven effective for identifying small-scale features. The default settings therefore assume work with high-resolution digital elevation models derived from airborne laser scanning missions (lidar). Despite this, the techniques are also used for various other purposes. For example, the sky-view factor can be efficiently applied in numerous studies where digital elevation model visualisations and automatic feature extraction techniques are indispensable, such as in geography, geomorphology, cartography, hydrology, glaciology, forestry, and disaster management. It can even be used in engineering applications, such as predicting the availability of the GNSS signal, conducting heat balance studies in urban areas, or predicting wind environments in football stadiums.
The methods currently implemented are: hillshading, hillshading from multiple directions, slope, simple local relief model (topographic position index), sky-view factor (as developed by our team), anisotropic sky-view factor, positive and negative openness, local dominance, multiscale topographic position, visualisation for archaeological topography (VAT), enhanced prismatic openness, enhanced multiscale topographic position (e4MSTP).
You are encouraged to cite these papers:
- Kokalj, Ž. 2025. Standardizing visualization in ancient Maya lidar research: Techniques, challenges and recommendations. Archaeological Prospection, 32 (4), 967–988. DOI: 10.1002/arp.70002
- Zakšek, K., Oštir, K., Kokalj, Ž. 2011. Sky-View factor as a relief visualization technique. Remote Sensing 3: 398-415. DOI: 10.3390/rs3020398
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