SkylineCloud Hosting supports the publishing, storage, and streaming of a wide range of 2D and 3D geospatial data. Published content can be viewed in TerraExplorer applications and accessed from supported external GIS and 3D clients.
Note: The source formats that can be uploaded may depend on the application used to publish the data and the services enabled for your SkylineCloud package.
In this article:
- Supported Data and Formats
- Supported Publishing Applications
- TerraExplorer Viewing Platforms
- External GIS and 3D Clients
Supported Data and Formats
SkylineCloud Hosting supports the following principal data types:
- Terrain and elevation – Skyline-optimized MPT terrain databases and TerraBuilder Project (TBP) files. Published elevation data can be streamed to TerraExplorer and supported external clients.
- Imagery and raster data – Orthophotos, maps, digital surface models (DSM), digital terrain models (DTM), and other supported raster layers. Raster data can be streamed through the Skyline Maps Service and exposed through WMS and WMTS.
- Feature data – Supported feature layers, including KML and file- or database-based vector data. Feature data can be streamed to TerraExplorer and exposed through WFS and WFS-T.
- 3D mesh data – Stream-optimized 3DML and o3DML layers. Supported source formats such as 3D Tiles, OSGB, and DAE can be converted to Skyline formats using TerraExplorer or PhotoMesh. Published layers can also be exposed as OGC 3D Tiles or I3S for supported external clients.
- Gaussian Splatting data – Gaussian Splatting models in o3DML format. These models can be streamed to TerraExplorer clients and exposed as OGC 3D Tiles or I3S.
- Point cloud data – Stream-optimized CPT layers. Source data such as LAS and E57 can be converted using Skyline publishing tools. Published point clouds can also be exposed as OGC 3D Tiles.
- TerraExplorer projects and resources – TerraExplorer project files and their associated resources, including layers, models, icons, styling, locations, and presentations.
For additional information about supported SkylineGlobe Server data sources, see Supported Sources and Formats >
Supported Publishing Applications
Data can be uploaded and published to SkylineCloud using the following Skyline applications:
- TerraExplorer Desktop – Publish complete projects or upload individual feature, raster, 3D, point cloud, and other supported layers. Project resources and styling are published together with the project.
- PhotoMesh – Publish PhotoMesh outputs such as 3D mesh and Gaussian Splatting models, point clouds, orthophotos, DSMs, and DTMs.
- TerraBuilder – Publish terrain databases and TerraBuilder Projects for streaming through SkylineGlobe Server and DirectConnect.
Depending on your SkylineCloud configuration, existing data in supported file or database repositories may also be published through server-side data sources.
For publishing instructions, see Publish Layers to SGS >
TerraExplorer Viewing Platforms
SkylineCloud projects and layers can be accessed through the following TerraExplorer solutions:
- TerraExplorer Desktop – A Windows desktop application for viewing, editing, analyzing, and publishing 2D and 3D geospatial content.
- TerraExplorer Fusion – A browser-based application requiring no installation. It is supported on Windows, macOS, and Linux in supported versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.
- TerraExplorer Fusion Mobile – A mobile-optimized browser experience for supported iOS and Android devices. No application installation is required.
- TerraExplorer Android SDK – A native Android development toolkit for organizations building custom Java or Kotlin applications with online or offline capabilities.
For instructions on accessing hosted content, see Load SGS Data in TerraExplorer Clients >
External GIS and 3D Clients
SkylineCloud content can also be accessed from supported external clients:
- Cesium-based clients – Load mesh, Gaussian Splatting, and point cloud layers as OGC 3D Tiles. Imagery can be loaded through WMS, while elevation data can be loaded using the SkylineGlobe Server terrain provider.
- Esri clients – ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Earth, and ArcGIS Online can access supported 3D layers as I3S and raster layers through WMS or WMTS.
- QGIS – Load imagery through WMS or WMTS, feature data through WFS, and supported 3D mesh layers as OGC 3D Tiles. Loading 3D Tiles requires QGIS Desktop 3.36 or later.
- Other OGC-compatible clients – Access public or secured layers through standard WMS, WMTS, WFS, WFS-T, and OGC 3D Tiles services, according to the capabilities of the client.
For connection instructions and SkylineCloud URL formats, see Load SGS Data in External Clients >