David Rumsey Collection Lake Tahoe 3D GIS

The Wheeler Survey of the Territory of the United States West of the 100th Meridian made one of the earliest accurate surveys of Lake Tahoe, California, in 1876 and 1877 and published the map sheets below in 1879. In this 3D GIS version of the maps, the two scanned historic map images are joined and combined with the modern day USGS DEM (Digital Elevation Model) and a bathymetric model of the lake itself, allowing us to "warp" the historic map images into 3D.

The flash movie below gives a preview of the 3D GIS experience. Click on the link below the flash movie to launch the full 3D Lake Tahoe GIS Viewer, but READ this first - the 3D GIS Viewer has three viewing modes: Fly Through (opening mode), Inspection, and Hover. Use the space bar to toggle between them. Use your mouse and arrow keys for Fly-Through, arrow keys and page up/down for Inspection, and arrow keys and "1" key (down) and "2" key (up) for Hover. Using keys together will produce different motions. Detailed Help is available.

Launch 3D Lake Tahoe Viewer Small Screen (4.40 MB) (If video card is 8MB)

Launch 3D Lake Tahoe Viewer Full Screen (4.40 MB) (If video card is greater than 8MB)

Launch times will vary depending on your connection. For a DSL line, the first time you launch the 3D Lake Tahoe Viewer, it will take about 30 seconds to install and open the image; subsequent viewing will only take about 5 seconds to open the file since it is stored in your browser's cache. With a modem, the first launch will take from 10-20 minutes. The Virtools Web Player should download automatically when you launch the 3D GIS Viewer. If it does not, you can download it here. Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT4.0/XP, MAC OSX (beta).

You can view 2D (flat) versions of maps of Lake Tahoe in the Insight viewer, as well as examine the data records for the maps.

If you have comments, suggestions, or need help, contact The David Rumsey Collection at .