A pioneering example in the application of geotechnologies for monitoring, analysis and planning of the city of the future.
The project is a technical achievement and a model for the future. It shows how a digital city can offer new possibilities to improve the quality of life, sustainability and resilience of urban areas. It also shows how a digital city can promote creativity, experimentation and participation, stimulating new ideas and solutions for the common good. The project invites us to imagine a world where every city has a digital twin, where data becomes a valuable resource to improve urban development and where technology is a catalyst for social change. The project challenges us to embrace this vision and make it a reality.
Multi-source data fusion
The resulting digital twin provides a rich and diverse dataset, capturing various aspects of the urban environment from different perspectives. The model combines nadir and oblique aerial imagery, LiDAR point clouds, and terrestrial mobile mapping data to create a dynamic and comprehensive city model. The project also provides innovative products, such as true orthophotos (RGB and color infrared images), classified LiDAR point clouds, DTM and DSM models, and a database of 22 urban objects such as traffic lights, outdoor seating, gates, and road signs.
High-resolution optical and LiDAR surveys
The project covered an area of approximately 1,575 km2, including 133 municipalities and the city of Milan. The aerial survey used the Leica CityMapper-2 hybrid sensor, which captured both nadir and oblique images and collected Lidar point clouds. The acquisition requirements specified that the aerial images had to have a resolution of 5 cm and the point cloud density had to be at least 20 points/m2.
434k
Images
220 mld
Points
50 TB
Storage
Integration of aerial and ground data
One of the main principles of the project is to use both aerial and terrestrial data to obtain complementary perspectives and improve the accuracy of the analyses. It was essential to ensure alignment between these datasets and this alignment was carefully considered.
A total of 2000 points were measured using photogrammetry and compared to the MMS data. The results show a satisfactory RMSE of approximately 7 cm horizontally and 14 cm vertically, indicating a strong compatibility between the two data sources.
The project to create a digital twin of Milan involved the Municipality of Milan and four major geoinformation companies: Compagnia Generale Ripreseaeree (CGR S.p.A.) for the aerial survey, Cyclomedia Technology B.V. for the mobile mapping, Esri Italia S.p.A. for the data management and Servizi Informazione Territoriale (SIT S.r.l.) for the topographic survey. The Geomatics Laboratory of the University of Pavia participated in the analysis and evaluation of the data quality.