🌍 3D Terrain Explorer Esri

Built entirely in HTML using embedded ArcGIS API for JavaScript and Esri-hosted 3D Scene Layers (I3S), this project showcases how to build a powerful client-side 3D geospatial visualization without any backend or additional JavaScript tooling.

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✨ Features

Each feature in the 3D Terrain Explorer is built to deliver hands-on, insightful analysis of the Earth's terrain. Here's how they work behind the scenes:

• 🌈 Advanced Heatmap Rendering

  • Divides the current camera view extent into a 40x40 grid of elevation tiles.
  • For each tile, it samples corner points using the ArcGIS elevation sampler and computes the average elevation.
  • Color is assigned to each tile using a linear gradient from green (lowest) → yellow (midrange) → red (highest).
  • In local mode, colors are scaled based on the visible region’s elevation range — ideal for highlighting small hills or local terrain.
  • In global mode, colors are scaled based on a fixed elevation span (0 to 9000 meters) — useful for global comparisons.
  • Updates the legend dynamically to reflect the actual elevation metrics of the heatmap.

• 📈 Interactive Sampling

  • When the user clicks on any point on the globe, the application converts the screen coordinates into geographic coordinates.
  • It then queries the ground elevation service using the ArcGIS queryElevation() method to retrieve the height of that point above sea level.
  • A popup displays the coordinates and the precise elevation in meters.

• 🌍 Fly To Landmarks

  • Each button corresponds to a predefined landmark's latitude, longitude, and camera altitude.
  • When clicked, the scene animates the camera to the location using ArcGIS view.goTo() with a fixed tilt for dramatic terrain viewing.
  • This allows quick exploration of iconic geographic locations with 3D context.

• ✨ Always Daylight Scene

  • By using lighting.type: "virtual", the scene disables real-time sun position and shadows.
  • This ensures consistent brightness and color visibility, even in areas that would otherwise be in darkness.
  • It improves terrain color interpretation by removing time-based lighting variations.

• 🔹 Legend and UI Controls