Challenges and strategies for the visual exploration of complex environmental data

Helbig, Carolin; Dransch, Doris; Böttinger, Michael; Devey, Colin W.; Haas, Antonie; Hlawitschka, Mario; Kuenzer, Claudia; Rink, Karsten; Schäfer-Neth, Christian; Scheuermann, Gerik; Kwasnitschka, Tom; Unger, Andrea

doi:10.1080/17538947.2017.1327618

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Although visual exploration interfaces differ in terms of content, offered functionality and visual complexity, they have proven of essential value for knowledge discovery and hypothesis formulation in many domains, including environmental studies (Helbig et al 2017).…”

Section: The Use Of Visualization For Knowledge Discoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

A progressive development of a visual analysis interface of climate-related VGI

et al. 2021

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This paper describes the progressive development of three approaches of successively increasing analytic functionality for visually exploring and analysing climate-related volunteered geographic information. The information is collected in the CitizenSensing project within which urban citizens voluntarily submit reports of site-specific extreme weather conditions, their impacts, and recommendations for best-practice adaptation measures. The work has pursued an iterative development process where the limitations of one approach have become the trigger for the subsequent ones. The proposed visual exploration approaches are: an initial map application providing a low-level data overview, a visual analysis prototype comprising three visual dashboards for more in-depth exploration, and a final custom-made visual analysis interface, the CitizenSensing Visual Analysis Interface (CS-VAI), which enables the flexible multifaceted exploration of the climate-related geographic information in focus. The approaches developed in this work are assessed with volunteered data collected in two of the CitizenSensing project’s campaigns held in the city of Norrköping, Sweden.

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Section: The Use Of Visualization For Knowledge Discoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

A progressive development of a visual analysis interface of climate-related VGI

et al. 2021

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“…Some general benefits of immersive technologies stem from the properties of an iVR system; for example, strong computing power due to the high-end processing engine and graphics cards, high-resolution displays, and large field of view in conjunction with a 360degree field of regard (Ragan et al 2013). There is a growing demand for enhanced analysis tools capable of handling and interpreting large and complex data sets (Helbig et al 2017). We expect that advanced visualization approaches and quantitative exploration powered by iVR systems will have huge influence on understanding the increasingly large and complex datasets in earth sciences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing the power of immersive virtual reality - visualization and analysis of 3D earth science data sets

Zhao

Wallgrün

Femina

et al. 2019

Geo-spatial Information Science

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The availability and quantity of remotely sensed and terrestrial geospatial data sets are on the rise. Historically, these data sets have been analyzed and quarried on 2D desktop computers; however, immersive technologies and specifically immersive virtual reality (iVR) allow for the integration, visualization, analysis, and exploration of these 3D geospatial data sets. iVR can deliver remote and large-scale geospatial data sets to the laboratory, providing embodied experiences of field sites across the earth and beyond. We describe a workflow for the ingestion of geospatial data sets and the development of an iVR workbench, and present the application of these for an experience of Iceland's Thrihnukar volcano where we: (1) combined satellite imagery with terrain elevation data to create a basic reconstruction of the physical site; (2) used terrestrial LiDAR data to provide a geo-referenced point cloud model of the magmatic-volcanic system, as well as the LiDAR intensity values for the identification of rock types; and (3) used Structure-from-Motion (SfM) to construct a photorealistic point cloud of the inside volcano. The workbench provides tools for the direct manipulation of the georeferenced data sets, including scaling, rotation, and translation, and a suite of geometric measurement tools, including length, area, and volume. Future developments will be inspired by an ongoing user study that formally evaluates the workbench's mature components in the context of fieldwork and analyses activities.

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“…Similar to GIS, we are aiming to overcome the challenges of integration, visualisation, and exploration within environmental data collections. With the increased amount of observation of natural phenomena in recent years due to progress in technology, production, and accuracy of equipment, this has become an important research topic (Helbig et al 2017;Buck et al 2021). Examples for heterogeneous data collections in 3D space have been previously presented for applications in hydrology (Porter et al 2021;Rink et al 2012), emergency management (Wang et al 2017), meteorology (Helbig et al 2014) or oceanography (González et al 2021).…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

An environmental information system for the exploration of energy systems

et al. 2022

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The transition to renewable energy sources requires extensive changes to the energy system infrastructure, ranging from individual households to the national scale. During this transition, stakeholders must be able to make informed decisions, researchers need to investigate possible options and analyse scenarios, and the public should be informed about developments and options for future infrastructure. The data and parameters required for this are manifold and it is often difficult to create an overview of the current situation for a region of interest. We propose an environmental information system for the visualisation and exploration of large collections of heterogeneous data in the scope of energy system infrastructure and subsurface geological energy storage technologies. Based on the study area of Schleswig-Holstein, a federal state in Germany, we have set up a virtual geographic environment integrating GIS data, topographical models, subsurface information, and simulation results. The resulting application allows users to explore data collection within a unified context in 3D space, interact with datasets, and watch animations of selected simulation scenarios to gain a better understanding of the complex interactions of processes and datasets. Based on the cross-platform game engine Unity, our framework can be used on regular PCs, head-mounted displays, and virtual reality environments and can support domain scientists during assessment and exploration of the data, encourages discussions and is an effective means for outreach activities and presentations for stakeholders or the interested public.

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Challenges and strategies for the visual exploration of complex environmental data

Cited by 15 publications

References 25 publications

A progressive development of a visual analysis interface of climate-related VGI

A progressive development of a visual analysis interface of climate-related VGI

Harnessing the power of immersive virtual reality - visualization and analysis of 3D earth science data sets

An environmental information system for the exploration of energy systems

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