2200 satellites orbits and 67000 flight routes visualized in 3D 🛰️✈️ !

### Info

* Orbits are correctly scaled.
* Maximum airplanes altitude is overly exaggerated (by a factor of ~300).
* I'd advice you to visit the [Europen Space Agency (ESA) website](https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Types_of_orbits) to understand the different types of orbits, and learn why the ISS orbits around Earth in ~1h40 or why your satellite dish needs to be precisely calibrated.

### Orbits categories

* Dark blue: Communications
* Light blue: Earth Observation (optical, radar, meteo...)
* Red/Orange: Positioning systems (GPS, Galileo, BeiDou...)
* Green: R&D and Space science

### Resources

* Orbits: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database
* Airports and routes: https://github.com/jpatokal/openflights/
* Landmask/borders: http://www.shadedrelief.com/natural3/pages/extra.html

<br>

**Note:** Randomizing orbits Z-rotation (more realistic) looks like:

![](https://i.imgur.com/KSQTqVK.jpg)

Of Planes and Satellites

Catholic church in Petit-Rocher, New Brunswick, Canada
GPS: 47.781634938573404, -65.71822623402743
https://diocesebathurst.com/paroisse-saints-coeurs-de-jesusmarie


🔹 Donating to the Air Digital Historical Building Scanning Archive helps preserve and digitally document architectural heritage for future generations, safeguarding irreplaceable cultural landmarks from decay or destruction. Your contribution supports cutting-edge technology to ensure these buildings' stories live on, accessible to all.

🔹 ** https://paypal.me/AirDigitalSupporter **


🔹 Thank you for your support! Please enjoy this complimentary model as a small token of our appreciation.

Église catholique Saint-Polycarpe

Fanart of [Kanbaki](https://twitter.com/_Kanbaki_)‘s OC - Michael

[Original art](https://twitter.com/_Kanbaki_/status/1482752002530504711?s=20&t=aRXllGpSdDCJpKPkL61U9Q)

Michael (OC by @_Kanbaki_)

A Mercator map of the starry heavens drawn by William Croswell,1810.
The 19th century western constellations are projected on the earth for navigation references.
By building your city under the projected trajectory of a star at a specific time. Now you can navigate, from land to sea, and from city to city.  By checking the map you can still see that some cities have been founded with this principle in mind. This was the antiquity GPS system. far more reliable than the modern one. This is why the medieval astrological projections are inverted. Because it is not to document the sky, but to document the "where about" on earth. By also knowing the cyclic derivation of a selected star (around 15 meters par year), you can also deduce the date of the city foundation as long as you have the correct data.

Mercator map of the starry heavens

Petroglyph J6, Khatm Al Melaha, Kalba, Sharjah.  Anthropomorphic figures in several styles, domestic goats, ibexes, and other motifs. All are common throughout the region. 

Khatm Al Melaha is a spectacular archaeological site on the coast of the Oman Sea near Kalba in Sharjah, UAE. It is one of the largest rock art sites in the UAE. There are also stone houses, a shell midden, stone tombs and other features that date this site has having occupations from at least the early Holocene to the 19th century.

Over 175 stones with petroglyphs were documented and close to 400 motifs were identified. Every rock with a glyph was given an ID number and a GPS coordinate. In total 25455 terrestrial photographs, 5244 drone photographs, 44 drone videos, and 182 GPS points (+/- 1cm) were done in a single day.

Petroglyph J6, Khatm Al Melaha, Kalba, Sharjah

This car is from a java game from Firemint's/I-Play Mobile Gaming's Fast and Furious Series. They both published 2 games together on the iOS Platform, and Java Platform. Both companies seperated after the relase of this game. This car can be unlocked through the story mode races. You can win it in the gps race, the tunnel run, or by escaping Fenix in a Evade mission. It is one, of the six muscle cars that can be unlocked in the game. I believe it resembles the 1970 Chevelle SS

Eruption - Fast and Furious (2009)

We didn't have GPS.
We'd stop, roll down the window,
and ask an old-timer for directions.
And we'd end up chatting for 10 minutes.
And best of all, we'd get the address of
the best wine shop around!
Those were the days!

Country Lane

A church in the small village of Michaelston-y-Fedw, near Marshfield, Newport.

DJI Mini 5 Pro

Weather: Sunshine

Flight plan:

* WaypointMap

* 5m polygon area -90° gimble 45m alt

* POI 35m radius -30° gimble 45m alt

* POI 15m radius -60° gimble 45m alt

* 2m/s speed


Images:

* Count: 451

* Interval: 2s

* Resolution: 12MP JPG

Processing

* Software: WebODM + Blender

* Options: auto-boundary:true, mesh-octree-depth:12, use-3dmesh:true, pc-quality:high, mesh-size:300000

* Average GSD: 1.73 cm

* Area: 25,198.93 m²

* Reconstructed Points: 198,425,226

* Spatial Reference: GPS

* Disk Usage: 8.15 Gb

St Michaels Church

The Lysaght Institute, Newport.

DJI Mini 5 Pro

Weather: Sunshine

Flight plan:

* Grid then tripple orbit flight

* Manual

* 10m polygon area -90° gimble 30m alt

* POI 20m radius -60° gimble 30m alt

* POI 15m radius -60° gimble 40m alt

* 2m/s speed


Images:

* Count: 522

* Interval: 2s

* Resolution: 12MP JPG

Processing

* Software: WebODM + Blender

* Options: auto-boundary:true, feature-quality:ultra, pc-quality:ultra, mesh-octree-depth:12, mesh-size:300000, dsm:true, dtm:true, orthophoto-resolution:1, use-3dmesh:true, no-gpu:true

* Average GSD: 1.18 cm

* Area: 15,675.71 m²

* Reconstructed Points: 269,201,094

* Spatial Reference: GPS

* Disk Usage: 9.88 Gb

Lysaght Institute

An Anglican church in Rogerstone, Newport.

DJI Mini 5 Pro

Weather: Sunshine

Flight plan:

* Grid then tripple orbit flight

* WaypointMap

* 5m polygon area -90° gimble 45m alt

* POI 15m radius -60° gimble 45m alt

* POI 50m radius -33° gimble 60m alt

* 2m/s speed


Images:

* Count: 867

* Interval: 2s

* Resolution: 12MP JPG

Processing

* Software: WebODM + Blender

* Options: auto-boundary:true, feature-quality:ultra, pc-quality:ultra, mesh-octree-depth:12, mesh-size:300000, dsm:true, dtm:true, orthophoto-resolution:1, use-3dmesh:true, no-gpu:true

* Average GSD: 1.77 cm

* Area: 37,137.29 m²

* Reconstructed Points: 450,692,145

* Spatial Reference: GPS

* Disk Usage:16.1 Gb

St John's Church Rogerstone

Fictional illustration of the surveyor's profession in the future:
Equipment used, among others:
DJI Matrice 400 RTK with L3 LiDAR
Centimeter-accurate GPS
6TMD 3D Rover-Scan-Modeling "XXFake"
Remote control of the equipment.

Dron Discovery-Team

A tree enclosed church as is obvious by the texture clearly showing tree branches for walls. I have cout back a lot of them to enable visibility of the church but it does result in a few mesh holes

DJI Mini 5 Pro

Weather: Sunshine

Flight plan:

* Tight POI orbit, grid then wide POI orbit flight

* WaypointMap

* POI 30m radius -55° gimble 45m alt

* 5m lane polygon area -90° gimble 45m alt

* POI 75m radius -40° gimble 60m alt

* 2m/s speed

Images:

* Count: 473

* Interval: 2s

* Resolution: 12MP JPG

Processing

* Software: WebODM + Blender

* Options: auto-boundary:true, pc-quality:ultra, mesh-octree-depth:13, mesh-size:300000, dsm:true, dtm:true, dem-resolution:3, orthophoto-resolution:1, no-gpu:true

* Average GSD: 1.73 cm

* Area: 21,140.01 m²

* Reconstructed Points: 219,636,447

* Spatial Reference: GPS

* Disk Usage: 10.02 Gb

St Stephens Church

This "castle"/fort was built by a former army soldier following a tour of duty and helped him with mental health issues he underwent. Much of the fort has now been demolished now due to issues with planning permission.

DJI Mini 5 Pro

Weather: Sunshine

Flight plan:

* Grid then tripple orbit flight

* WaypointMap

* 2m lane polygon area -90° gimble 10m alt

* POI 15m radius -45° gimble 15m alt

* POI 50m radius -60° gimble 30m alt

* 1m/s speed

Images:

* Count: 588

* Interval: 2s

* Resolution: 12MP JPG

Processing

* Software: WebODM + Blender

* Options: auto-boundary:true, feature-quality:ultra, pc-quality:ultra, mesh-octree-depth:12, mesh-size:300000, dsm:true, dtm:true, orthophoto-resolution:1, use-3dmesh:true, no-gpu:true

* Average GSD: 0.64 cm

* Area: 3,891.59 m²

* Reconstructed Points: 340,103,316

* Spatial Reference: GPS

* Disk Usage: 11.44 Gb

Wattsville Castle

This is the main church in Marshfield, Newport, UK

DJI Mini 5 Pro

Images: 434

Weather: Cloudy with outbreaks of sunshine

Software: WebODM + Blender

Options: auto-boundary:true, dsm:true, feature-quality:ultra, mesh-octree-depth:12, mesh-size:300000, no-gpu:true, orthophoto-resolution:1, pc-quality:ultra, use-3dmesh:true

Average GSD: 1.24 cm

Area: 7,989.42 m²

Reconstructed Points: 210,054,986

Spatial Reference: GPS

CRS:	WGS 84 / UTM zone 30N

Disk Usage: 8.34 Gb

St Marys Church Marshfield

Today, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) positioning relies on several constellations. The exact number varies slightly depending on the source and the status of the satellites (active, in reserve, maintenance), but a reliable order of magnitude can be given (2025–2026):
Main constellations (global coverage)
• GPS (United States): ~31 active satellites
• GLONASS (Russia): ~24 operational satellites
• Galileo (Europe): ~27 operational satellites (≈30 in orbit)
• BeiDou (China): ~35 satellites (current order of magnitude for the complete constellation)
Total global GNSS
In practice, this equates to approximately 110 to 120 active satellites used for global positioning.
The system with twenty-four satellites was fully operational in 1995. Knowing the satellite positions at the time the signals were transmitted, and the measured pseudo-distances (possibly corrected for various factors.

Opperrateur GPS Sahara

On July 25, 2017, USF CDHGI researchers conducted a 3D survey of the Pasco County sinkhole near Saxon Lake. We are also working to integrate data with collaboration from the USF School of Geosciences, who were collecting Ground Penetrating Radar survey data in conjunction with our GPS work. Additionally, Halo Imaging have been providing access to their RTK drone imagery that has been collected on multiple days and is allowing for meaningful comparison data. The DHHC and USF Libraries are creating a database archive of this research effort, and a web application portal that shares historic maps and information about the environmental history of this area (see: http://arcg.is/0LuCnL ). 

To learn more: http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/studying-pasco-sinkhole-has-personal-professional-meaning-usf-researcher#stream/0

![](https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4330/35837606950_d86a5acb51_o_d.jpg)

Saxon Lake Sinkhole 3D Laser Scanning Model

GPS 47.62777965456641, -65.67933069827461

Location: Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada

🔹 Donating to the Air Digital Historical Building Scanning Archive helps preserve and digitally document architectural heritage for future generations, safeguarding irreplaceable cultural landmarks from decay or destruction. Your contribution supports cutting-edge technology to ensure these buildings' stories live on, accessible to all.

🔹 ** https://paypal.me/AirDigitalSupporter **


🔹 Thank you for your support! Please enjoy this complimentary model as a small token of our appreciation.

Skatepark Snack Shack Photogrammetry

In the context of the [recent eruption](https://www.thelocal.it/20190721/sicilys-airports-reopen-after-latest-volcanic-eruption-of-mount-etna) of Mt. Etna (Sicily - Italy), here is a little 3D geological map.

Do not hesitate to follow the annotations for a 2 minutes tour of the volcano !

* [Geological map](http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/periodici-tecnici/memorie-descrittive-della-carta-geologica-ditalia/memoriexcviii/memdes_98_carta_geologica.jpg) from [ISPRA](http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/).
* Mesh reconstructed in CloudCompare from a [2005 Lidar Survey](https://figshare.com/articles/Mt_Etna_volcano_high-resolution_topography_airborne_LiDAR_modelling_validated_by_GPS_data/4818394) by Bisson et al. (Point Cloud visible [here](https://skfb.ly/6M6oI)).
* UV mapped and Post-Processed in Blender.

Mt. Etna - Geological Map

Rollei-XX2030 LIDAR TOTAL STATION
• Millimeter-precision GPS receiver
• 360° robotic total station, 0.5 mm accuracy
• 3D virtual reality headset/computer
   Enabling real-time 3D modeling
  Object localization and analysis
  Complete datasheet generation
  Of captured data.

Technicien Geometre Total Lidar Station

This model was generated using Meshy, an AI-powered 3D creation toolkit. Meshy helps creators turn ideas into high-quality 3D models with ease. View the original model and claim a free month of Pro on Meshy: [https://www.meshy.ai/s/Gps2TJ](https://www.meshy.ai/s/Gps2TJ)

model

Part of a NYC Commission on Human Rights, can be found [Bedford & Hancock](https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6820948,-73.9539007,3a,75y,165.49h,82.12t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sT-yCxXsShrnZtGfOmu-5Vg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DT-yCxXsShrnZtGfOmu-5Vg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D72.96602%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192) in Brooklyn.

More about Tatyana's work: http://www.tlynnfaz.com/NYC-Commission-on-Human-Rights-PAIR

Created with Polycam.ai

"To be free" mural by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh

The raw elevation data I used for the [Geological map of Mt. Etna](https://skfb.ly/6M6oK), from a [2005 Lidar Survey](https://figshare.com/articles/Mt_Etna_volcano_high-resolution_topography_airborne_LiDAR_modelling_validated_by_GPS_data/4818394) by Bisson et al. You'll find the original data on the publication's page.

This point cloud was simply cleaned up in Python and "augmented" with some ambient occlusion in CloudCompare in order to ease the reading when compared to a plain color one.

Mt. Etna - Lidar survey

On July 25, 2017, USF CDHGI researchers conducted a 3D survey of the Pasco County sinkhole near Saxon Lake. We are also working to integrate data with collaboration from the USF School of Geosciences, who were collecting Ground Penetrating Radar survey data in conjunction with our GPS work. Additionally, Halo Imaging have been providing access to their RTK drone imagery that has been collected on multiple days and is allowing for meaningful comparison data. The DHHC and USF Libraries are creating a database archive of this research effort, and a web application portal that shares historic maps and information about the environmental history of this area (see: http://arcg.is/0LuCnL ). To learn more: http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/studying-pasco-sinkhole-has-personal-professional-meaning-usf-researcher#stream/0

Florida Sinkhole Disaster

Single loop around the transmitter mast

DJI Mini 5 Pro

Images: 293

Weather: Cloudy

Software: WebODM + Blender

Options: auto-boundary:true, dem-resolution:3, dsm:true, feature-quality:ultra, mesh-size:300000, no-gpu:true, orthophoto-resolution:1, pc-quality:ultra

Average GSD: 2 cm

Area: 9,128.12 m²

ReconstructedPoints: 163,544,335

Spatial Reference: GPS

Disk Usage: 	5.18 Gb

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