Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

Web-Based Agricultural Infrastructure Digital Twin System Integrated with BIM and GIS
Concepts
--Manuscript Draft--

Manuscript Number: COMPAG-D-23-02698R2

Article Type: Application note

Keywords: Agricultural Infrastructure; Digital Twin; Infrastructure Information; Web-based 3D

GIS; BIM

Abstract: A Geographic Information System (GIS) is currently being used in agriculture to

represent various farming-related geographical information. GIS is still limited in
representing detailed topographic information in hydrological structures such as
culverts, irrigation, and drainage facilities. A method that integrates Building
Information Model (BIM) concepts and GIS is proposed to overcome these limitations.
To achieve this, information on agricultural infrastructure in beneficiary areas was
collected through field surveys and photos captured by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(UAV) and then created a digital twin model with various characteristics and
information about agricultural hydraulic structures such as land shape, sluices, and
channels of the entire beneficiary area of the test bed (Heungeop reservoir in the City
of Wonju, Gangwon Province, South Korea) based on this information. A web-based
geographic information visualization platform (Cesium) was integrated with the
concepts of BIM to be enabled to check the information associated with the selected
3D agricultural infrastructure models in a pop-up window. The proposed method
overcomes the limitations of existing GIS information representation by enabling a
detailed depiction of the agricultural environment. It allows for an intuitive
understanding of information on agricultural infrastructure through a pop-up window,
providing a foundation for research on efficient management and planning.

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Highlights

Web-Based Agricultural Infrastructure Digital Twin System Integrated with

GIS and BIM Concepts

Junhwi Cho, Chaehyeon Kim, Kyoung Jae Lim, Jonggun Kim, Bongjun Ji, Jaeheum Yeon*

Department of Regional Infrastructure Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon,

Gangwon, South Korea 24341.

Highlights

 Integration of BIM and GIS for detailed representation of test bed.

 Digital twin model creation through field surveys and UAV-based imaging.

 Generation of 3D models containing information on agricultural infrastructures.

 Web-based visualization in three dimensions at their real-world locations.

 A pop-up window in Cesium displays details of agricultural infrastructures.

*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jyeon@kangwon.ac.kr (J. Yeon).
Manuscript File Click here to view linked References

1 Web-Based Agricultural Infrastructure Digital Twin System Integrated with

2 GIS and BIM Concepts

4 Junhwi Cho, Chaehyeon Kim, Kyoung Jae Lim, Jonggun Kim, Bongjun Ji, Jaeheum Yeon*

6 Department of Regional Infrastructure Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon,

7 Gangwon, South Korea 24341.

9 ABSTRACT

10 A Geographic Information System (GIS) is currently being used in agriculture to represent

11 various farming-related geographical information. GIS is still limited in representing detailed

12 topographic information in hydrological structures such as culverts, irrigation, and drainage

13 facilities. A method that integrates Building Information Model (BIM) concepts and GIS is

14 proposed to overcome these limitations. To achieve this, information on agricultural infrastructure

15 in beneficiary areas was collected through field surveys and photos captured by Unmanned Aerial

16 Vehicle (UAV) and then created a digital twin model with various characteristics and information

17 about agricultural hydraulic structures such as land shape, sluices, and channels of the entire

18 beneficiary area of the test bed (Heungeop reservoir in the City of Wonju, Gangwon Province,

19 South Korea) based on this information. A web-based geographic information visualization

20 platform (Cesium) was integrated with the concepts of BIM to be enabled to check the information

*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jyeon@kangwon.ac.kr (J. Yeon).

1
 1 associated with the selected 3D agricultural infrastructure models in a pop-up window. The

2 proposed method overcomes the limitations of existing GIS information representation by enabling

3 a detailed depiction of the agricultural environment. It allows for an intuitive understanding of

4 information on agricultural infrastructure through a pop-up window, providing a foundation for

5 research on efficient management and planning.

6 Keywords: Agricultural infrastructure, Digital twin, Infrastructure information, Web-based 3D

7 GIS, BIM

8 1. Introduction

9 Geographic information in agricultural areas is crucial for agricultural productivity and

10 managing resources such as water and soil (Tsihrintzis et al., 1996). To represent and manage this

11 geographic information, the agriculture sector primarily utilizes Geographic Information Systems

12 (GIS) (Kingsley et al., 2019). It enables water flow analysis based on slope and altitude changes

13 and can predict soil erosion and runoff (Tien et al., 2019). Furthermore, the study of soil conditions,

14 sunlight, shadow patterns, and moisture supply in specific areas allows for managing and

15 predicting various factors affecting crop growth (Rovira-Más et al., 2005). With these advantages,

16 constructing and utilizing GIS significantly enhances the efficiency of information management,

17 prompting a considerable amount of ongoing research.

18 Drogue et al. (2002) proposed a method of predicting downstream flow and variations by

19 integrating a 3D GIS and a Hydrological Response Model (HRM). However, the method was

20 criticized for lacking realism when comparing the created 3D models with the actual environment.

21 Obiniyi and Ibrahim (2015) proposed a method to visualize rural areas in virtual space through a

22 web-based 3D GIS. However, it was limited to the representation of crops only and did not cover

2
 1 overall agricultural information. Saha and Mat (2018) conducted research to visualize geographic

2 information from a coconut farm in Northern Malaysia on the Web in 3D. However, when

3 compared with an actual coconut farm, the quality was low and there was a lack of detailed

4 information representation. Li et al. (2019) proposed a method to visualize measured soil moisture

5 data in 3D using GIS. However, it was criticized for not visualizing information through

6 interactions with the actual terrain of the location.

7 The preceding studies have demonstrated the importance and potential of visualizing

8 agricultural information using GIS. However, using existing GIS alone has limitations in the

9 detailed representation of specific features such as terrain and hydraulic structures (weirs, channels,

10 etc.) when creating models of large areas, and realism is also lacking when compared with the

11 actual agricultural environment. Furthermore, it is challenging to use GIS for managing the

12 maintenance history of agricultural infrastructures due to its limitations in representing detailed

13 information about such structures, such as the material, size, and maintenance history of actual

14 reservoirs and channels.

15 This study proposes a method to visualize information on agricultural infrastructure by

16 applying the Building Information Model (BIM) concept, used in the construction sector, to

17 existing GIS to solve the problems of using GIS in agriculture. BIM allows adequate verification

18 of information by displaying various information about a specific structure when selecting a 3D

19 model created by modeling an actual structure (Hendriatiningsih et al., 2019). It then enables the

20 management and analysis of information related to the lifecycle of a structure, such as structure

21 materials and structural elements (Marzouk et al., 2018). By enabling information-based decision-

22 making in building operation and maintenance, the BIM can enhance the sustainability of a

23 building's lifecycle (Carvalho et al., 2019). The concept of BIM is introduced to GIS, and

3
 1 visualized through the web-based 3D geospatial visualization platform, Cesium. The existing

2 Cesium only provides simple visualization without offering specific model information when a

3 model is selected. However, by introducing the BIM concept via a 3D GIS method, we propose a

4 method of visualizing information within Cesium in this study, thus moving beyond mere

5 visualization.

6 2. Material and methods

7 2.1. Test bed area

8 The test bed area for this research was in the beneficiary area of the Heungeop reservoir in

9 the City of Wonju, Gangwon Province, South Korea. The Heungeop reservoir has an entire water

10 area of approximately 25.1 hectares and a storage volume of about 1,098,000 tons (KRC, 2023).

11 The beneficiary area of the Heungeop reservoir encompasses about 139.8 hectares and includes

12 various features such as terrain, vegetation, and farmland, which has been systematically managed

13 (removing aquatic plants, weeds, etc.) to maintain a good surrounding environment. It is easily

14 accessible due to highways and main roads nearby.

15 2.2. Field survey

16 Field surveys were conducted to understand and collect information (terrain, hydraulic

17 structures, environment, etc.) about the entire beneficiary area. Two methods were used for the

18 field survey: direct observation by the investigator and shooting using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

19 (UAV). Given the difficulty in investigating the vast beneficiary area at once, the beneficiary area

20 was divided into four zones for the field surveys as shown in Fig. 1.

4
 1

2 Fig. 1. Overview of survey area.

3 Primarily, the investigators focused on the main elements of the beneficiary area: land use,

4 hydraulic structures such as sluices and flow meters, the location and material of channels, and the

5 position and direction of water supply and drainage. UAV was employed to capture high-

6 resolution images of the entire beneficiary area. For shooting, the DJI Mavic 2 UAV (DJI

7 Technology Inc., Shenzhen, China) was employed as shown in Fig. 2.

9 Fig. 2. UAV employed in this study.

10 The flight altitude for the UAV shooting was set at 120 meters. This altitude was considered

11 appropriate to obtain high-resolution images. The flight path was pre-planned using the DJI GO 4

12 app and was set to cover both the reservoir and the beneficiary.

5
 1 2.3. Digital twin procedure

2 The DJI Terra software, a data analysis tool developed by DJI, was employed to create the

3 digital twin model using the photogrammetry technique. The software's algorithm analyzes the

4 captured images, automatically locates the same parts, and uses the position differences to derive

5 3D geographic information to create a 3D model, the overlap between images allows the accurate

6 reproduction of complex terrains and buildings (Lin et al., 2023).

7 Additional detailed models were produced to more accurately replicate the actual

8 appearance of the beneficial area, not just the basic geographic information as shown in Fig. 3.

9 The detailed models included hydraulic facilities such as sluices, channels, and flow meters, which

10 are key facilities used for water resource regulation and management in the area.

11

12 Fig. 3. 3D models of the Heungeop reservoir infrastructure.

6
 1 2.4. Visualization

2 A 3D model of the beneficial area was created, and the geographic information from GIS

3 was visualized on the web using Cesium. Cesium can be employed to check information on the

4 web without installing separate software, enabling the integration of 3D models and geographic

5 information, thereby representing the complexity and detailed features of the actual environment

6 more realistically (Lafrance et al., 2019).

7 3. Results and discussion

8 Using digital twin-based 3D modeling, the overall appearance and various characteristics

9 (land use patterns, surrounding environment, etc.) of the Heungup reservoir beneficiary area were

10 reproduced in high resolution. When compared with the actual Heungup reservoir beneficiary area,

11 it was confirmed that the implementation was similar to the actual area as shown in Fig. 4. The

12 digital twin model of the beneficiary area and each detailed model were created by combining

13 detailed information of the respective model. In Cesium, 3D models containing geographic and

14 other information are integrated to be displayed in their actual locations on the map. When a user

15 clicks on a specific model, detailed information about the model (completion year, inspection date,

16 management status, agency, etc.) is displayed in a popup window as shown in Fig. 5, allowing for

17 intuitive confirmation of the specific information of the actual model (hydraulic structures, etc.)

18 because, in the agriculture engineering field, text documents struggle to intuitively identify which

19 maintenance history corresponds to which hydraulic structure such as channels, sluices,

20 flowmeters, etc. (Elamin et al., 2009). By providing practical ways to manage maintenance history

21 through a 1-to-1 matching of models and detailed information, the quality of information such as

22 the usage status and management status of the beneficiary area can be improved and more

7
1 intuitively understood by continuously updating the detailed information of each hydraulic

2 structure.

3
4 Fig. 4. Digital transformation from the field to the virtual environment.

6 Fig. 5. Information display associated with a channel in a pop-up window.

8
 1 4. Conclusions

2 This paper proposed a method to visualize various information on beneficial agricultural

3 areas on the web, using digital twins and Cesium. The limitations of existing GIS were resolved

4 by integrating and visualizing geographic information with actual detailed data of the 3D models

5 in Cesium on the web. This allows users to intuitively access information about actual structures

6 when selecting models. Without the need for on-site visits, the analysis and comparison of

7 agricultural infrastructure information and conditions can be conducted in an indoor environment,

8 overcoming the drawbacks of information recorded in documents or text format. Last, if the results

9 of this study are applied to the real field, it will be beneficial for agricultural infrastructure

10 management and agricultural water resource management.

11

12 Acknowledgement

13 This work was supported by Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in

14 Food, Agriculture and Forestry (iPET) through the Agricultural Foundation and Disaster Response

15 Technology Development Program, funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

16 (MAFRA) (grant number 322081-3).

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Declaration of Interest Statement

Declaration of interests

☐The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships
that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

☒The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered
as potential competing interests:

Kyoung Jae Lim reports financial support was provided by Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for
Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry.