Patent Document ID: 8848983
Application ID: 13484996
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for determining ranking data for geographic features, comprising: selecting, by one or more computing devices, a geographic feature associated with a geographic area; determining, by the one or more computing devices, a viewshed associated with the geographic feature; evaluating, by the one or more computing devices, one or more characteristics of the viewshed associated with the geographic feature; generating, by the one or more computing devices, a ranking score for the geographic feature based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the viewshed associated with the geographic feature; and storing, by the one or more computing devices the ranking score for the geographic feature in a memory; wherein determining, by the one or more computing devices, a viewshed associated with the geographic feature comprises: accessing, by the one or more computing devices, a three dimensional model associated with the geographic area; identifying, by the one or more computing devices, a plurality of geographic points within the geographic area; determining, by the one or more computing devices, whether greater than a predefined threshold of a three dimensional representation of the geographic feature in the three dimensional model is visible from each of the plurality of geographic points; and selecting, by the one or more computing devices, the geographic point for inclusion in the viewshed associated with the geographic feature if greater than the predefined threshold of the three dimensional representation of the geographic feature is visible from the geographic point.