Abstract
Forest landscape visualization involves the rendering of realistic or abstract images that rep¬resent an underlying dataset of forest environments. The dataset may be the product of physical measurements of the real world, or it can be the product of a computational model. Visual images are regarded as being relatively easily interpreted by humans and help people understand complex data and processes. This study used a 3D computer cartographic technique to compile data of the
terrain, buildings, roads, and plants in the core area of the Shanping Ecological Scientific Garden (SESG) in the Liukuei Research Center, southwestern Taiwan. SketchUp software was used to
build 3D object models and assign allocation to the objects based on a geographic survey. Keyhole
Markup Language and Google Earth were also used to generate digitized virtual scenery images.
With the aid of the forest landscape simulation system we developed, people could quite easily vis¬
it the virtual world of the SESG at home. Finally, 2 scenarios of nursery management in the SESG
were designed in this study. It is expected that the 3D simulation technique developed in this study can be utilized in forest recreational areas to design scenarios and elicit public discussion on land¬scape planning.