ABSTRACT
Geographic information systems (GIS) and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) have developed as solutions to different problems in different domains — the former optimized for the modeling of new, but well-defined objects; the latter for the reconstruction of existing objects about which only sparse and incomplete information is available. The modeling of complex systems that go beyond the drawing part of the problem well into the simulation, budgeting, environmental impact analysis, and decision support makes a strong case for a tighter integration of GIS and AEC in a full three-dimensional environment. In order to have a scientific and effective approach to answering all the questions posed by each of the modeling steps outlined above, the “view” of the problem, or its “scale,” needs to be defined. Exploration prospects are typically defined by sampling data, which are the result of collating many variables and the combinations of which present nonunique solutions.
