Hi!
We are continuously evaluating whether to add more contextual data sources to Forma - and which ones to prioritise. To simplify licensing and compliance, both for us and for our end users, we prefer to only provide data sets under an open license.
Regarding German LOD2 buildings, we have considered it best to provide LOD2 buildings only in those states where there is also high quality (1m DGM) terrain available. This way we can ensure that users that order both terrains and buildings through Forma get matching and consistent geometries in their projects.
Unfortunately, the state of Niedersachsen does not seem to be among the states that provide open, high-quality terrain data - see: https://www.lgln.niedersachsen.de/startseite/geodaten_karten/3d_geobasisdaten/dgm/digitale-gelaendem... . This has made us downprioritise this particular state with regards to LOD2 data.
In places where 1m DGM is not available, the terrain we can offer in Germany is of lower quality, and this will lead to buildings not matching (ie not being placed accurately on the surface of) the terrain. We might consider adding just LOD2 buildings also for states where 1m DGM is not available, but so far our experience is that non-matching geometries is not ideal for our users.
Are there other Bundesländer that you would like to request LOD2 buildings for? We would very much like to meet our users' requirements, but at the same time, we prefer areas where there is high-quality, open, terrain data available. So please let us know what your priorities are.
Also, as far as we know, Germany will implement the EU directive on high-value data sets (2019/1024), and this will hopefully make more data sets available under an open license. We do not have any details on when that will happen, but when the relevant data sets become open it will be easier for us to provide more data to our users as well.
Best regards,
Kristoffer
