Parbati: Digital Forms for Himalaya on MayaLucIA

Blender Visualisation

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0100

Blender is the workbench where terrain meshes become explorable landscapes. The Python scripts automate the import pipeline: mesh loading, camera setup, landmark annotation, elevation banding, and viewport configuration.

What the Scripts Do

Script	Purpose
`blender_5_import.py`	Minimal: import peak mesh, set viewport
`blender_5_annotated.py`	Full: import + labeled empties + 3D text + vertex colours
`blender_5_expanded.py`	Import expanded valley mesh (larger scene)
`blender_setup.py`	Post-import configuration (after manual import)
`kullu/kullu_blender.py`	Kullu district with 16 annotated landmarks

Landmark Annotations

Empties (point objects) mark key features:

DEM Processing: Reading the Earth's Surface

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0100

Everything starts with elevation. The SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) provides 1-arc-second (~30 m) digital elevation models covering the entire Parvati Valley and surrounding ranges. These are the raw material from which terrain meshes, hillshades, and satellite-textured landscapes are built.

Data Source

SRTM tiles from AWS Mapzen elevation tiles (public, no authentication):

N31E077 and N32E077 — two tiles covering the Parvati Valley extent
3601 × 3601 pixels per tile, signed 16-bit big-endian
~30 m horizontal resolution, ~1 m vertical accuracy

Processing Pipeline

Download — fetch .hgt.gz tiles from S3
Parse — load as NumPy float32, handle voids (NaN)
Stitch — combine adjacent tiles into continuous elevation grids
Subsample — reduce resolution for mesh generation (step=3 to step=8)
Hillshade — compute synthetic illumination for 2D visualisation
Satellite texture — fetch Sentinel-2 Cloudless composite from EOX WMS

The pipeline covers extents ranging from the Parbati Parbat peak (±0.10°, ~11 km) to the full Kullu district (1.3° × 1.2°, ~145 km).

Kullu Valley: The Beas Drainage System

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0100

The Kullu district expansion zooms out from the Parvati Valley to encompass the full Beas River drainage system — from Aut (1100 m) at the valley mouth to the Lahaul/Chenab divide (3080 m+) beyond Rohtang Pass. This is the geographic context within which the Parvati Valley sits.

Geographic Extent

Bounding box: 31.40–32.70°N, 76.80–78.00°E (~145 × 113 km)
SRTM tiles: 4 (2×2 grid: N31E076, N31E077, N32E076, N32E077)
Elevation range: ~800 m (Aut gorge) to 6632 m (Parbati Parbat)

River System

The Beas and its tributaries carve the district:

Mesh Generation: From Elevation to Geometry

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0100

A digital elevation model is a grid of numbers. A mesh is geometry that can be rotated, lit, textured, and explored. This stage transforms SRTM grids into OBJ meshes with UV-mapped satellite textures — ready for import into Blender or any 3D application.

Mesh Products

Name	Extent	Resolution	Vertices	Texture
Peak	Parbati Parbat ±10 km	step=3 (~90 m)	~400K	2048² Sentinel-2
Valley	Bhuntar to Pin Parvati	step=4 (~120 m)	~300K	4096×2048 Sentinel-2
Expanded	Full GHNP + Khirganga NP	step=6 (~180 m)	~416K	Bare (vertex colour)
Kullu	Full Beas drainage	step=8 (~240 m)	~316K	Bare (vertex colour)

Output Format

Each mesh produces three files: