Interactive Visualization of Earth and Space Science Computations
W. L. Hibbard, B. E. Paul, A. L. Battaiola, D. A. Santek, M-F. Voidrot-Martinez, and C. R. Dyer, Computer 27, No. 7, July 1994, 65-72.

Abstract

We describe techniques that enable Earth and space scientists to interactively visualize and experiment with their computations. Numerical simulations of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans generate large and complex data sets, which we visualize in a highly interactive virtual Earth environment. We use data compression and distributed computing to maximize the size of simulations that can be explored, and a user interface tuned to the needs of environmental modelers. For the broader class of computations used by scientists we have developed more general techniques, integrating visualization with an environment for developing and executing algorithms. The key is providing a flexible data model that lets users define data types appropriate for their algorithms, and also providing a display model that lets users visualize those data types without placing a substantial burden of graphics knowledge on them.