Abstract
Visualization in the physical and natural sciences is distinguished by the need to deal with data sets that are volumetric, time varying and multi-variant. The goal of this project is implementation of a system whereby researchers can access, analyze, and visualize water quality data collected in three dimensions (geographical co-ordinates and depth). Using computer graphics it is now possible to combine data, their three dimensional location and lake topography to create images of water quality patterns which supersede conventional surface, two dimensional, graphics (GIS). Through solid modelling, oxygen and temperature data collected on May 28, 1990 and August 8, 1990 in Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario, are mapped into voxels and visualized on a two dimensional screen. The calculation of the 3D representation allows the accurate computation of volumetric properties since each voxel has water quality values associated with it and these values can be summed or elaborated numerically as needs arise. For example the lake has a volume of 253,947,500 m3, the water mass (May 28, 1990) at 12–13 °C had a complex three dimensional shape with a volume of 61,036,250 m3 and on August 8, 66% of the lake volume had oxygen levels over 4 mg L−1 and suitable for fish growth, contrary to expectations. A third benefit of visualization is that the data can be viewed interactively from different viewpoints thus increasing the interaction between scientist and the data.
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Halfon, E. (1996). Volume Visualization of Water Quality Data in Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario. In: Denzer, R., Schimak, G., Russell, D. (eds) Environmental Software Systems. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-34951-0_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-34951-0_25
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