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Abstract Scientific visualization is an integral part of A high-resolution stereoscopic virtual reality (VR) envi-
the modeling workflow, enabling researchers to under- ronment further enhances the possibilities of visualiza-
stand complex or large data sets and simulation results. tion. Such an environment also allows collaboration in
work groups including people of different backgrounds
L. Bilke · T. Fischer · C. Helbig · O. Kolditz · T. Nagel · K. and to present results of research projects to stakehold-
Rink · N. Watanabe
Department of Environmental Informatics,
ers or the public. The requirements for the computing
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, equipment driving the VR environment demand spe-
Leipzig, Germany, cialized software applications which can be run in a par-
E-mail: lars.bilke@ufz.de allel fashion on a set of interconnected machines. An-
A. Sachse other challenge is to devise a useful data workflow from
Department of Catchment Hydrology, source data sets onto the display system. Therefore we
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research,
Leipzig, Germany
develop software applications like the OpenGeoSys Data
Explorer, custom data conversion tools for established
S. Schelenz
Department of Monitoring and Exploration Technologies,
visualization packages such as ParaView and VTK as
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, well as presentation and interaction techniques for 3D
Leipzig, Germany applications like Unity. We demonstrate our workflow
S. Paulick by presenting visualization results for case studies from
Department of Ecologial Modelling, a broad range of applications. An outlook on how visu-
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, alization techniques can be deeply integrated into the
Leipzig, Germany
simulation process is given and future technical im-
O. Kolditz provements such as a simplified hardware setup are out-
Chair of Applied Environmental System Analysis,
Technische University at Dresden,
lined.
Dresden, Germany Keywords Virtual Reality · Visualization · Computer
M. Walther Graphics · Data Exploration · Hydrological Processes ·
Institute for Groundwater Management, Geotechnics · Seismic Data · OpenGeoSys · VISLAB
Technische University at Dresden,
Dresden, Germany
D. Naumov 1 Introduction
Faculty of Mechanical and Energy Engineering,
Leipzig University of Applied Sciences,
Leipzig, Germany Visualization is an indispensable tool – not only in
B. Zehner
environmental sciences – to create insight from data
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, originating from constantly evolving complex numeri-
Berlin, Germany cal models describing natural phenomena. Proper tools
J. Ziesch · C. Krawczyk and workflows are needed to handle these data in a
Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, practical way to let researchers benefit from the ad-
Hannover, Germany vantages of visualization. Due to the variety of appli-
cation domains, this is a challenging field [12]. We de- stereo using shutter glasses [42] and passive stereo us-
velop software applications like the OpenGeoSys Data ing Infitec technology [29]. An optical motion track-
Explorer, custom data conversion tools for established ing system [17] based on infrared cameras detecting
visualization packages such as ParaView and VTK as passive markers on the user’s 3D glasses allows com-
well as presentation and interaction techniques for 3D putation of images such that a correct perspective is
application frameworks like Unity, enabling scientists in maintained and adjustments are made according to the
environmental research to better explore, analyze and movement of the observer. Additionally, a pointer de-
present their scientific problems and questions. vice (Flystick ) allows for interaction with the virtual
The term VISLab or Visualization Center is often environment. The rendering is performed using a clus-
used in research to describe a facility with a focus on in- ter of 13 workstations (one for each projector) equipped
terdisciplinary research with the help of visual methods with high-end Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs)
and emerging technologies such as large screen instal- and situated in a server room next to the presentation
lations [31], virtual reality techniques [10, 11] or novel venue. The master / server process of the actual appli-
collaboration tools [28]. Such facilities can be found cation is started on a hardware device in front of the
in research [75], engineering [15], training [64] and display that allows controlling of multiple machines in
medicine [81]. the server room from one keyboard, mouse and monitor
(KVM switch). Figure 1 shows that in addition to the
virtual reality capabilities, the VISLab can be employed
2 TESSIN VISLab for enhanced multimedia presentations such as the si-
multaneous display of images, videos and documents or
The TESSIN VISLab is a high-resolution immersive a combination of 2D and 3D content. A typical use is to
virtual reality (VR) environment and was established present the 3D data on the main screen and additional
at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research data sets such as images, spreadsheets, maps and videos
(UFZ) in 2008 to face the need of analyzing and working in a context-dependent way on the two side screens as
on increasingly complex data sets generated by simula- shown in figure 1.
tions of natural phenomena in environmental sciences.
Typical uses for this environment are:
2.2 Mobile VR equipment
– collaborative discussions in small groups of scien-
tists For off-site presentations such as at conferences, work-
– exploring complex data sets shops or visits to project partners or stakeholders, we
– verifying the quality of data sets can also utilize mobile equipment to demonstrate the
– showing concurrent visualizations of heterogeneous same visualization projects as in the VISLab (although
integrated data sets in a much smaller resolution and also limited to one
– presenting research results to stakeholders concurrent user). The equipment consists of notebooks
– presentations for the general public such as on open with dedicated GPUs and stereoscopic projectors or
house events head-mounted displays such as the Oculus Rift [50] as
shown in figure 2.
For simulation, we employ OpenGeoSys [36], an open- The catchment of the river Ammer in southwest Ger-
source platform and flexible numerical framework for many has been selected as the study region for a holis-
the simulation of thermo-hydro-mechanical / chemi- tic analysis of the water cycle coupled to reactive solute
cal (THM/C ) processes in porous and fractured media transport, for addressing water and solute fluxes at the
with applications in geoscience and hydrology. In order catchment scale as a function of and in feedback with
to simulate these processes, models are defined that in- changes in climate, land use, and water usage [22]. The
clude as much relevant data as possible to account for river has a length of 25 km and is a tributary to the
all phenomena defining that natural system. Heteroge- Neckar. Its catchment has a size of 180 km2 with a ge-
neous data sets representing the model characteristics ology comprised of a sequence of Triassic strata form-
are given as input parameters to the simulation soft- ing a landscape characterized by escarpments [63]. The
ware which returns result data sets predicting system Ammer is mainly fed by groundwater from the karstic
behavior in areas of interest. and fractured aquifers and drains the catchment at a
We use visualization both when setting up the model rate of ca. 1 m3 /s.
and simulation as well as to analyze simulation result The finite-element groundwater model is based on
data. As a basis for creating visualizations, we employ a digital elevation model with a resolution of 100 m in
VTK which is also integrated into the OGS Data Ex- combination with interpolated subsurface layers based
plorer framework (a data integration and visualization on the stratigraphic data of over 100 boreholes. For sim-
tool for pre- and postprocessing OpenGeoSys simula- ulation purposes, the subsurface information has been
tion data [56]) as well as ParaView. combined into four separate layers, consisting of a part-
We provide utilities and ParaView plug-ins to con- ly karstified limestone aquifer overlaid by Keuper layers.
vert VTK visualization data to formats supported by In addition, the scene includes the stream network and
3.4 Oman – Saltwater intrusion modeling 3.5 TERENO – Observatory Harz/Central German
Lowlands
Within the project International Water Research Al-
liance Saxony (IWAS), one of the main goals was to as-
sess and evaluate water resources under various natural
and human induced stress conditions. Several subpro-
jects considered study regions in different parts of the
world [30].
3.12 Climate data – Visual analysis 3.13 Pore scale modeling and visualization
In this case study, simulation data of the Weather Re- For a detailed understanding of fluid flow behavior on
search and Forecasting (WRF) model are visualized in the pore-scale in unconsolidated sediments, simulations