Three dimensional visualization of oceanographic data: a case study of the Gulf of Mexico's coastal interface with Texas and Louisiana

Summary form only given. The current state-of-the-art 3D scientific visualization, as applied to coastal ocean data, is discussed. The significance of 3D animation, videography, and virtual reality techniques, as tools for the analysis of littoral phenomena, is examined. Constraints to integrating scientific visualization within coastal ocean modeling and possible integrative solutions are identified. Subsequently, the Gulf of Mexico's coastal interface with Texas and Louisiana is presented, as a case study of temporal and spatial analysis utilizing a suite of integrated visual inputs, including remotely sensed satellite and airborne data and archival salinity, bathymetry, currents, temperature, and wave-height data. Finally, the future of 3D scientific visualization is assessed, given the imminent launch of the Earth Observing System (EOS), an array of public and private sector high-resolution satellite sensors, and advances in ocean modeling technology. Prior to the availability of advanced visualization techniques, ocean model outputs were visualized in 2D rectangular flat surfaces. In order to render such output more realistically, various techniques emerged. These included digital elevation models, wire frame overlays, and grey scale and color-shading mapping techniques. More recently, scientific visualization has benefited from the explosion of graphical advances in the fields of animation, virtual reality, and specialized grid generation, as well as increased hardware capacity for rapid rendering of imagery.