Method for 3d visualization of sensor data

A computer-implemented method for visualizing sensor data in a three-dimensional virtual representation of a terrain that has multiple surface layers, the method comprising, in a computer system:

• receiving terrain data comprising information about the multiple surface layers;
• receiving at least one point cloud comprising a multitude of data points, each data point comprising three-dimensional coordinates in relation to the terrain and one or more sensor data values;
• performing a pre-processing procedure;
• and
• visualizing the sensor data in at least a part of the virtual representation of the terrain,
• wherein the pre-processing procedure comprises:
• generating a three-dimensional mesh as the virtual representation based on the terrain data;
• dividing the mesh into a multitude of tiles, each tile having at least three corners, each of the corners being shared with one or more neighbour tiles;
• calculating a projection direction for each tile corner;
• and
• calculating a projection direction for each tile based on the projection directions of the tile's corners,
• wherein visualizing the sensor data comprises, for each tile in the part of the virtual representation of the terrain,
• projecting a visual attribute representing a sensor data value of one of the data points into the tile, wherein the projection direction of the tile and a three-dimensional projection volume of the respective data point are used for projecting the visual attribute into the tile;
• and
• displaying the tile having the projected visual attribute.