Recent Vislab Visualization Projects

Vislab staff worked with CGD scientists Marika Holland and David Bailey to produce several visualizations of CCSM4 monthly sea ice concentration.   The visualizations show comparisons of monthly model output with observed concentrations from 1979-2007 and projections of how conditions could change in the future.   

Additionally, VETS staff collaborated with CGD scientist Synte Peacock to produce CCSM4 animations (1,2) of spring snowpack projections and how climate change could affect wolverine populations.    Peacock's research indicates that wolverines are threatened by the reduction of springtime snow cover that wolverines rely on to protect and shelter newborn kits, and by increasing August temperatures that may be beyond what the species can tolerate.

The tools used for these projects include NCL and Blender software.

VisLab End of FY11 Metrics

Vislab staff supported nearly 200 meetings, demos, and video conferences to approximately 3300 users in FY2011.  Education and Outreach accounted for most (45%) of the usage including presentations to a diverse audience base comprised of K-12 students, and scientific, government, and corporate visitors.  The Vislab supported a record number of local visitors and users (2767).  In addition, almost 500 remote users were supported via video and web conferencing technologies.   Vislab staff expect to see this number continue to climb as more users adopt these remote collaboration technologies.

NCL Workshops in Australia

Dennis Shea of CGD, and Mary Haley and Dave Brown of CISL taught two NCL workshops in Australia in April 2011: one hosted by Mark Collier of CSIRO at the Bureau of Meteorology Training Centre in Melbourne, and one hosted by Jason Evans at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

There were 55 students in attendance, hailing from various research organizations and universities around Australia. Both groups of students had a high focus on drought, fire, and precipitation research, and many were using data from WRF in their research. It's expected that these courses will create a groundswell in the number of people using NCL in Australia, and have a long-term positive impact on the quality and quantity of scientific output by their research teams.

To encourage a community-based approach for using NCL, Mark has created a CSIRO-sponsored wiki to enable students to share ideas, scripts, and data with each other, and to contribute examples and code back to the NCL developers.

Drought Severity Animation produced for Al Gore and TV Globo Brazil

VETS staff produced a drought animation for possible use by former Vice President Al Gore and TV Globo, South America's largest broadcaster, whose newscasts have around 30 million viewers in Brazil. 

The visualization was created with NCL and uses data from a drought study by NCAR scientist Dr. Aiguo Dai.   The animation shows the potential for future drought worldwide during the 21st century and is based on current projections of future greenhouse gas emissions.  The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) was used to assign positive numbers when conditions are unusually wet for a particular region, and negative numbers when conditions are unusually dry. A reading of -4 or below is considered extreme drought. More information on this project can be found in the UCAR press release and paper publication associated with the visualization.

Additionally, VETS staff continue to experiment with the data and have produced an animated version with 3D relief.  The height of the surface represents the absolute value of the PDSI variable, which helps to highlight both the interannual variability and the regions with the most severe conditions. (i.e. Very wet and very dry areas will have the highest elevation.)   This version was also generated in a stereoscopic 3D format for display in the Vislab.

New SmartBoard Installed in Vislab

Vislab staff installed a 52"  interactive whiteboard (SmartBoard) to enhance the presentation capabilities in the Vislab.   This whiteboard, developed by Smart Technology, uses touch detection and digital pens for user input and can be connected to the Internet so that remote users can see what is being written or presented in real time.

The system also doubles as a presentation platform connected to the Vislab projector, so users can present PPT slides, annotate, and control a presentation all from the SmartBoard interface.

Additionally, all the notes, annotations, and drawings that are created during a meeting can be saved, and then emailed to participants or reloaded for further discussion later.

The system is driven from a presenter's Mac or PC.   The control software is loaded via a USB dongle during set up, so users are not required to pre-load the software prior to a meeting.   

If anyone is interested in a short demo or would like to try out the system for future use, please let us know.

VISLAB end of FY2010 Metrics

Vislab staff supported 163 meetings, demos, and video conferences to approximately 2300 users in FY2010.  Education and Outreach accounted for most (45%) of the usage including presentations to a diverse audience base comprised of K-12 students, and scientific, government, and corporate visitors.  The total number of visitors and users was nearly the same as the previous fiscal year, although usage patterns changed.   For example, the number of UCAR staff that used the Vislab for general meetings was slightly higher, while the number of visitors for demos decreased.   Additionally, the number of staff that used the Vislab's collaborative technologies, such as video, web, and teleconferencing increased significantly by 70%.   As users' familiarity and comfort level with video teleconferencing expands, we expect to see continued growth in this area in FY2011.

Scientific Visualization Project Update

Vislab staff worked with John Dennis (CSS) to produce a visualization of a high resolution, multi-century, coupled climate simulation - the first of its kind with an eddy-resolving ocean. The visualization shows present day conditions and provides a proof-of-concept for using large scale computing systems to achieve significantly increased model resolution.

VETS staff collaborated with Synte Peacock (CGD) to create several visualizations  of a computer modeling study of the Gulf Oil Spill that simulates possible pathways the oil might take under a variety of oceanic conditions. The visualizations were used in a UCAR press release and received wide publicity including close to 1 million hits on YouTube alone. They were also picked up by broadcast media around the world and were shown on most major local and national television networks including NBC News, Good Morning America, and Denver's 9 News, to name a few.

Vislab staff worked with Carl Drews (ACD) to produce animations of a computer simulation that shows how movement of wind (wind setdown) could have parted the waters as described in the Biblical account in the book of Exodus. The study is part of a larger research project by Drews into the impacts of winds on water depths, including the extent to which Pacific Ocean typhoons can drive storm surges. The visualization was used in a UCAR press release and has also received wide media attention including over 236,000 views on YouTube in just 2 days and an appearance on an ABC World News segment.