Building USNA Campus Resilience to Sea-Level Change Effects using X3D Model Publication and Visualization in SPIDERS3D

Abstract

Significant modeling work visualized the United States Naval Academy (USNA) campus by postprocessing 3D data scans using X3D modeling techniques for Web publishing. Evaluating visualizations of projected sea-level rise levels due to climate change first led to improved facilities planning for installation resiliency, and then a decision to raise the campus seawall. Potential cost and capability savings are immense. As an important repeatable exemplar, this planning and visualization project offers significant potential value to many Naval facilities. However, although locally viewed visualization analysis provided much insight, permission to release government-owned 3D data and models was never granted. Upon ensuring that all physical-security concerns are addressed, this paper recommends releasing X3D models and relevant data assets for collaborative visualization by USNA, Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), and the Navy. Careful planning of model creation and model sharing offers an opportunity to broadly support the Navy’s climate-action planning activities. Additionally, these assets can lead to ongoing applied education and research work by faculty and students at NPS and USNA. This case study provides multiple lessons learned and recommendations for archivable 3D models with broad implications for the defense acquisition process. This paper describes ongoing efforts, continuing to establish a basis for repeatable 3D visualization as a fundamentally important Naval capability.