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Cho Oyu and Ngozumpa Glacier by bld

I have written before about the interesting mapping projects appearing on Thingiverse lately, but MakerBot Operator bld‘s Cho Oyu and Ngozumpa Glacier is the first I’ve seen of Thingiverse users creating 3D printed maps/scale models of terrain that might be useful for planning actual real-world mountaineering expeditions.

Cho Oya, on the border between Tibet and China, is the 6th highest mountain in the world. The Ngozumpa glacier at its feet is the longest glacier in the Himalayas, and has been a crucial area of scientific investigation regarding the effects of global warming on the region. bld modeled the NW and SW quadrants of the glacier for “a friend’s expedition to study the glacier.” And while bld promises to post further recipes for how to mine primary sources for creating models from any geo data, nonetheless the thing post for this object is a lesson in how to work with the data to create printable, accurate-to-scale models.

In particular, I found the following helpful:

I found that the default scale of the Blender displacement maps was too flat. I did a test print and used calipers to get the scale right. Each pixel in X/Y is 90-m. To get the vertical relief correct, I measured the height of known parts of the map (summit of Cho Oyu and a nearby valley) and compared this to terrain maps in Google maps and the width of the model (200 pixels multiplied by 90m).

Cho Oyu As Seen From Gokyo (I want to go to there)

Cho Oyu and Ngozumpa Glacier by bld

Cho Oyu, 6th highest mountain in the world, and the Ngozumpa glacier below it. Model has 4 quadrants (NW, NE, SW, SE) including Cho Oyu and the north end of Ngozumpa (NW), the southern end of Ngozumpa (SW), and two quadrants to the east including Mt. Everest (NE and SE). I printed the NW and SW quadrants for a friend's expedition to study the glacier. UPDATE: See thingiverse.com/thing:16851 for instructions on making your own.

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