Application of the GeoDimensional Tools ArcGIS Extension for the Analysis of 3D Virtual Models of Outcrops in the Arbuckle Anticline and Other

GeoDimensional Tools (GDT) is a software extension to the ESRI ArcGIS software platform which enables the viewing and analysis of photorealistic 3D virtual models of geological outcrops. The models are created from LIDAR point clouds and photographs or from stereo photogrammetry of the outcrops. A module developed for GDT enables the rapid creation of a 3D model from LIDAR point clouds and photographs. Commercially available software is used to create the photogrammetric models. The models then are georeferenced to world coordinates to allow for orientation analysis. The models are converted to the ArcGIS multipatch 3D model format for compatibility with the ArcScene platform in the ArcGIS software suite. The Strike-dip, trend-plunge, fold cross-sectional profile, bedding thickness, and surface orientation classification can be performed in ArcScene using the GeoDimensional Tool set. The detailed model of the outcrops can then be placed in ArcGlobe to allow macro-scale viewing of the model and results surrounded by the terrain in which they occur. Outcrops in the Arbuckle Anticline along I35 in southern Oklahoma, in the Shannon Group along the coast of Ireland, at Writing on Stone Provincial Park in southern Alberta, Canada, and others have been modeled and are available for analysis demonstration or for hand-on analysis by attendees.