Overlay
An overlay is a layer visualized on top of the terrain and buildings in the 3D visualization. Overlays can provide spatial insight into specific subject, such as the variation of height and ownership. The visualized properties can originate from the current state of the project or from a result of a spatial calculation.
However, most overlays that can be added to a project use an underlying calculation model, which rasterize the spatial data and apply calculations to it to produce various (intermediate) results. These computational overlays can range from simple distance and average operations to complex water simulations. For these more complex Overlays with multiple results, additional Result Child Overlays can be added. The calculation main and child results will always be governed by the main overlay, also called the Result Parent Overlay.
How to access overlays in a project
Overlays available to stakeholders appear as buttons on the right side of the interface. Clicking on any of these buttons will switch the view to the specific overlay. Clicking on the "City" overlay will switch the view back to default. Some overlays are automatically added when a project is created. Some overlays are closely related to indicators, such as Heatstress and Livability.
Parent Overlay
Overlays can be grouped together using a Parent-Child hierarchy. Hovering over any of the Overlays in the Navigation Panel will show additional icons for the Child Overlays of that Overlay.
Every Overlay is considered a Parent Overlay, unless it has a Parent Overlay set, in which case it becomes a Child Overlay of that Parent Overlay. Overlays with Child Overlays cannot be a Child Overlay to another Overlay. Result Child Overlays are always Child Overlays of other Overlays.
When a parent overlay is removed, it's child overlays are not removed, unless the child overlay is a result child type overlay. Otherwise, they simply have no parent overlay set anymore and become a parent overlay themselves.
List of available Overlays
| Icon | Name | Category | Type | Displays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Overlay icon normal.png | City | Default | None | The default view without any overlay |
| File:Overlay icon ownership.png | Ownership | Administrative | Feature | Ownership of constructions/ plots |
| File:Overlay icon ownership grid.png | Ownership Grid | Administrative | Grid | Ownership of constructions/ plots |
| File:Overlay icon municipalities.png | Municipalities | Administrative | Feature | Municipalities in the project area |
| File:Overlay icon neighborhoods.png | Neighborhoods | Administrative | Feature | Neighborhoods in the project area |
| File:Overlay icon vacancy.png | Vacancy | Administrative | Feature | Constructions marked as vacant are highlighted |
| File:Overlay icon zip codes.png | Zipcodes | Administrative | Feature | Postal codes |
| File:Overlay icon zoning.png | Zoning | Administrative | Feature | Zoning (related to zoning plans) |
| File:Overlay icon heat stress.png | Heat | Environmental | Grid | Urban heat stress |
| File:Overlay icon livability.png | Livability | Environmental | Grid | Livability score |
| File:Overlay icon traffic density.png | Traffic Density | Environmental | Grid | Traffic density |
| File:Overlay icon traffic noise.png | Traffic Noise | Environmental | Grid | Impact of traffic noise polution on surrounding area |
| File:Overlay icon traffic no2.png | Traffic NO2 | Environmental | Grid | Impact of traffic NO2 polution on surrounding area |
| File:Overlay icon flooding.png | Flooding | Water | Grid | Impact of flooding on inundation |
| File:Overlay icon groundwater.png | Groundwater | Water | Grid | Underground water tables |
| File:Overlay icon rainfall.png | Rainfall | Water | Grid | Impact of rainfall on inundation |
| File:Overlay icon subsidence.png | Subsidence | Water | Grid | Areas subject to subsidence |
| File:Overlay icon watershed.png | Watershed | Water | Grid | Discharge areas based on DTM or Water overlay's flow direction. |
| File:Overlay icon avg.png | Average | Grid Calculation | Grid | Smoothened values of grid cells |
| File:Overlay icon distance.png | Distance | Grid Calculation | Grid | Defined contour around an object |
| File:Overlay icon sight distance.png | Sight Distance | Grid Calculation | Grid | Combined distance zone with line of sight |
| File:Overlay icon travel distance.png | Travel Distance | Grid Calculation | Grid | Contour based on travel distance |
| File:Overlay icon shadow.png | Shadow | Grid Calculation | Grid | Shadow |
| File:Overlay icon travel distance.png | Inference | Grid Calculation | Grid | AI Inference |
| File:Overlay icon travel distance.png | Iteration | Grid Calculation | Grid | Iteration Collector |
| File:Overlay icon area.png | Area | Geo Data | Feature | Selection of Areas |
| File:Overlay icon attribute.png | Attribute | Geo Data | Feature | Presence of a specific attribute in a data layer |
| File:Overlay icon combo.png | Combo | Grid Calculation | Grid | Combines up to three grid overlays using mathematical functions and boolean operators. |
| File:Overlay icon geo tiff.png | GeoTIFF | Geo Data | Grid | External data in GeoTIFF format |
| File:Overlay icon image.png | Image | Geo Data | Grid | A custom image |
| File:Overlay icon wcs.png | WCS | Geo Data | Grid | Stores the GeoTIFF result of a Web Coverage Service as a Grid Overlay. |
| File:Overlay icon wms.png | WMS | Geo Data | Grid | Stores the result of a Web Image Service as a Grid Overlay. |
| File:Overlay icon heightmap.png | Satellite | Topography | Grid | Satellite Imagery |
| File:Overlay icon heightmap.png | Digital Surface Model | Topography | Grid | Height of the terrain and building heights (DSM) |
| File:Overlay icon heightmap.png | Digital Terrain Model | Topography | Grid | Height of the terrain (DTM) |
| File:Overlay icon function.png | Function | Geo Data | Feature | Highlights specific functions/ buildings |
| File:Overlay icon source.png | Source | Topography | Feature | Datasets/sources currently in use for generating the project |
| File:Overlay icon underground.png | Underground | Topography | Feature | Underground composition |
| File:Overlay icon network distance.png | Network Distance | Networks | Feature | Distance to lines of a network |
| File:Overlay icon network overview.png | Network Overview | Networks | Feature | Lines, loads and cluster topography of a network |
| File:Overlay icon network ownership.png | Network Ownership | Networks | Feature | Ownership of lines, loads and clusters of a network |
Notes
- The following overlays are added automatically when creating a new project: City, Neighborhoods and Ownership. Depending on the project sources, Zoning and Underground Overlay can also be added.
- Grid overlays have the ability to show the difference between the maquette and the current state. The difference visualization uses its own legend, which can also be manually adjusted. The option to show the difference can be turned on or off per Grid Overlay.
- Overlays can be given Attributes. Some of these Attributes are used by their calculation model.
- Some overlays can have the option to visualize different (intermediate) results of its calculation. These are configured using the result types. For example, for the Water Overlay the result types include the surface last value result type and the groundwater result type for water above and below ground respectively.
- Some overlays store multiple timeframes of results. Examples are the Water Overlay and the Heat Overlay. Each timeframe is a complete snapshot of results of the entire project area. These results can be viewed in sequence. When these overlays are visualized in the 2D map, the last timeframe is shown.
How-to's
General:
Grid Overlay specific:
- How to configure a Grid Overlay's legend
- How to set an Overlay to active or inactive
- How to delay Grid Overlay calculations
- How to force Grid Overlays to recalculate
- How to create an overlay for visualizing your own geographical vector information
- How to use a Grid Overlay to change the elevation model
- How to smooth Grid Overlay results
In/out:
See also
