Browse wiki
From CSDMS
High-quality 3D visualizations can effecti … High-quality 3D visualizations can effectively engage audiences and aid our understanding environmental data yet creating them often feels out of reach for many researchers. The initial effort to overcome the technical complexity of gathering multiple datasets and 3D visualization software can be a barrier to producing photorealistic 3D images. This workshop aims to help participants create 3D visualizations of environmental data using Blender, a free, open-source 3D software. Here, we will focus on visualizing digital elevation models (DEMs), but the skills learned can also apply to visualizing other environmental datasets, for example, modeling results, field measurements, experimental data. We will use a Python-based workflow called TopoRivBlender to fetch, process, and visualize topographic, hydrographic, and satellite imagery geospatial data. With just a single command and a few minutes, this workflow will programmatically download an area of interest, process and project multiple geospatial datasets, and render photorealistic 3D visualizations with Blender. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:</br></br></br>- Create their own Blender images of topography, hydrography, and satellite imagery of any location on Earth</br></br>- Modify basic Blender settings for customizing the look of the 3D images</br></br>- Describe data pipelines and how TopoRivBlender uses the workflow management tool Snakemake to fetch, process, and visualize the geospatial dataprocess, and visualize the geospatial data +
jkwang@usgs.gov +
CSDMS 2026: Modeling Landscapes in Motion +
Jeffrey +
U.S. Geological Survey +
Kwang +
Clinic +
Minnesota +
TopoRivBlender: Reproducible 3D Visualizations in Blender and Python +
United States +
Creation date"Creation date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the first revision of a subject and is provided by <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Special_properties">Semantic MediaWiki</a>.
14:00:58, 5 January 2026 +
Has query"Has query" is a predefined property that represents meta information (in form of a <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Subobject">subobject</a>) about individual queries and is provided by <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Special_properties">Semantic MediaWiki</a>.
Last editor is"Last editor is" is a predefined property that contains the page name of the user who created the last revision and is provided by <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Special_properties">Semantic MediaWiki</a>.
Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Special_properties">Semantic MediaWiki</a>.
14:07:32, 5 January 2026 +
Terrestrial Working Group +, Coastal Working Group +, Marine Working Group +, Education and Knowledge Transfer (EKT) Working Group +, Cyberinformatics and Numerics Working Group +, Hydrology Focus Research Group +, Chesapeake Focus Research Group +, Critical Zone Focus Research Group +, Human Dimensions Focus Research Group +, Geodynamics Focus Research Group +, Ecosystem Dynamics Focus Research Group +, Coastal Vulnerability Initiative +, Continental Margin Initiative +, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Initiative +, Modeling Platform Interoperability Initiative + and River Network Modeling Initiative +
