The GIS/Data Center has worked with the Facilities and Engineering Department to create a GIS database for the Rice campus. Students from the ESCI 454 Geographic Information Science class used elevation and building information and an aerial photograph to create a 3D model of the Rice campus.

An elevation model of the Rice campus was created first. An elevation model can be used to easily show the low elevation areas on campus, which are the areas that would naturally hold more water during heavy rainfalls.

The height of the buildings was estimated by the number of floors in the building. The buildings were extruded by their heights, displayed on an aerial photo and draped on the elevation in 3D with a vertical exaggeration of 15.