Visual Analytics of Paleoceanographic Conditions

Decade scale oceanic phenomena like El Nino are correlated with weather anomalies all over the globe. Only by understanding the events that produced the climatic conditions in the past will it be possible to forecast abrupt climate changes and prevent disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment. Paleoceanography research is a collaborative effort that requires the analysis of paleo time-series, which are obtained from a number of independent techniques and instruments and produced by a variety of different researchers and/or laboratories. The complexity of these phenomena that consist of massive, dynamic and often conflicting data can only be faced by means of analytical reasoning supported by a highly interactive visual interface. This paper presents an interactive visual analysis environment for paleoceanography that permits to gain insight into the paleodata and allow the control and steering of the analytical methods involved in the reconstruction of the climatic conditions of the past