Hi(gh)!

Another proposal for a group project: re-creating pre-war Afghanistan as 
a 3D world using POV-Ray and/or Blender and/or X3D! May converge into 
POVEarth...

Time frame: at least until 2050 (I hope to live at least to this date), 
if progress in increasing human life expectancy allows also longer

Task list:

1. Terrain relief
1.1 Finding elevation data at a sufficient horizontal resolution - 
readily available data (SRTM, ASTER) vs. heightfields/meshes generated 
from topographical maps (e. g. opentopo.org)
1.1.1 If the latter: programming interpolation software to generate the 
data matrix - extracting existing contour lines, interpolating height 
values between them
1.2 Modifying POV-Ray code for a more efficient handling of mesh2 data 
(internal binary like heightfields rather than ASCII)

2. River network, lakes
2.1. Obtaining pre-1978 hydrographical data of Afghanistan, 
interpolating from current data (which are different due to war-related 
deforestation and climate change)
2.2 Basic fluid dynamics modeling (probably already existing)

3. Basic soil and rock pigments
3.1. Acquiring detailed geological and mineralogical data

4. Surface cover, vegetation
4.1 Thorough studies of biomes of the Iranian, Turanian, Tibetan and 
Indian floristic provinces (e. g. "Flora Iranica")
4.2 Pre-war vegetation maps of Afghanistan, as accurate as possible
4.3. Modelling as many typical plants as possible, also using existing 
plant models
4.4. Placing plants according to local conditions (slopes vs. flat 
areas, microclimatical considerations)

5. Climate and weather modeling
5.1 Finding as much data as possible on temperature, precipitation, air 
pressure, winds, cloud cover, sunshine hours and snow pack
5.2. Modeling seasonal changes of vegetation and soil cover (snow!)

6. Wild fauna - from mites to snow leopards
6.1. Modeling and animating animals, using existing animal models
6.2. Modeling basic ecosystems

7. Roads, paths and tracks (at least no railroads before 1978...)
7.1 Obtaining pre-1978 road maps (Historical and Political Gazetteer of 
Afghanistan, compiled by Ludwig Adamec, University of Nebraska, Omaha)

8. Buildings - vernacular and modern, profane and religious
8.1. Finding detailed photographies or even construction plans of 
landmark buildings in the three largest cities (Kabul, Kandahar and Herat)
8.2. Using photogrammetric techniques on these images

9. Domestic fauna, livestock - sheep, camels, goats, cattle, poultry, 
dogs, cats, caged birds
9.1. Modeling with respect to endemic breeds
9.2. Implementing transhumancy patterns of nomads

10. People
10.1 Physical modeling of body types
10.2 Traditional and modern clothing
10.3. Acquiring knowledge of Afghan languages: Persian (Dari dialect), 
Pashto, Uzbek, Turkmen, Kyrgyz, Hazaragi, Nuristani, Pashai, Parachi, 
Ormuri, Brahui, Baloch, Pamiri (contributions of native speakers are 
extremely appreciated! Generally, Afghans should join the project from 
its earliest stages!)
10.4. Implementing cultural traditions
10.5. Tourism - hippies in Herat and Kabul, "Chicken Street"

11. Politics and Governance
11.1 Zahir Shah or republican era?
11.2. Parties, social movements

12. Additional historical/alternate historical scenarios
12.1. Greco-Bactrian empire
12.2. "Afghatopia 2100" - history went a more benign path during the 
1970s, allowing Afghanistan to slowly evolve into a major economic 
power, originally based on its wealth of mineral resources

WHO WANTS TO JOIN ME?

Further discussions preferably in povray.general!

See you in...

Yadgar

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