Visualization Information
By: Debi Kilb, Allison Jacobs & Graham Kent
Using 3-D Interactive Visualizations to Enhance R2K Research
Figure 1: Snapshot from an interactive exploration of data from the Tonga subduction zone looking ~NNE. Data includes: Tomography (vertical images), bathymetry (horizontal image), select earthquakes for the region color-coded by time (diamonds, from the Engdahl catalog), trace of Lau basin spreading axes (white line), surface trace of the subduction zone interface (green line), and approximation of the subduction zone interface at depth (pink surface, from Gudmundsson and Sambridge model), crosses help delineate the curvature of the subduction zone (subduction zone mapping algorithm from Amanda Hughes, Washington and Lee University). Data from Fernando Martinez and Brian Taylor (University of Hawaii), Linda Warren (Carnegie Institution of Washington), and Doug Weins (Washington University). Compiled by Allison Jacobs and Debi Kilb (SIO).
The Ridge 2000 community is experiencing a revolution in the volume and quality of earth, chemical and biological data being collected. Unfortunately, our present ability to examine these large and highly resolved datasets is rather limited. This is especially true when scientists want to inter-compare heterogeneous datasets from varied sub-disciplines, for example, bathymetry, crustal structure, photo-imagery, vent biota, seismicity data, or petrology. Traditionally, combining such datasets involves a great deal of effort, preventing common-usage and ultimately hindering our ability to understand the inter-dependencies between datasets. Immersive visualization can be the glue that binds together the various pieces of the puzzle, providing community access and ease of use.
Researchers at the Visualization Center at Scripps, http://www.siovizcenter.ucsd.edu in La Jolla, California, have a visualization laboratory for the creation, collection and distribution of a library of visual objects (e.g., IVS Fledermaus/iView 3D and Alias|Wavefront Maya formatted data types, and Quicktime movies). These visual objects form the foundation for virtual 3-D models that are currently being archived and made available to the R2K community via a high-bandwidth, web-based ftp site, along with the required freeware. Scientists can use the growing collection of visual objects to either construct their own scenes (in a mode similar to Lego) or explore existing 3-D models (scenes) at their local university/research center using either a workstation or notebook environment.
The R2K program has funding for researchers to work with the SIO Visualization team to create scenes using your own data from any of the integrated study sites (ISS). If you would like help visualizing your data please contact us at vizinfo@ucsd.edu.
Ridgeview: The Interdisciplinary Visualization Portal of R2K Integrated Studies Sites
Figure 2: Volumetric exploration of the crustal structure near 9N using the ARAD3D seismic dataset. The green/red colors indicate areas of subsurface reflections and the turquoise peg points to a plunging melt sill. By interactively viewing the data in 3-D stereo, UCSD/Calit2 postdoc Dr. Jurgen Schulze (at left) and SIO graduate student Allison Jacobs (at right) can identify details on the large-screen display that might go otherwise unnoticed. Data from Graham Kent and Alistair Harding (SIO).
Ridge researchers at Scripps have created a web portal to allow the R2K community access to visualization scenes for each of the Ridge integrated studies sites (ISS). These scenes can be downloaded from the portal, enhanced with your own data and used for interdisciplinary analyses.