collection of large amounts of data in remote settings where
portability and efficiency may be critical. Because the source data
are photographs, the derivative 3D data can readily be coloured or
draped with the source photography to produce realistic 3D models
of the feature of interest, which can then be exported to 3D visualization
environments for analysis. In addition, with free viewers
for many 3D formats (including the ubiquitous Adobe Reader for 3D
PDFs), models can be widely shared for exploration and enhanced
understanding of the 3D nature of many geoscience examples. 3D
photogrammetric models and their accompanying digital photographs
are inherently archival, easily shared and provide a record
that is faithful to the primary observations, thereby allowing future
generations of geoscientists to extract additional 3D and oriented
data, or reinterpret the outcrop/samples.