A virtual geographic environment for multi-compartment water and solute dynamics in large catchments

Rink, Karsten; Nixdorf, Erik; Zhou, Chengzi; Hillmann, Markus; Bilke, Lars

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124507

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Our prototype of a VEIS is based on the framework of an Environmental Information System originally developed for hydrological applications (Rink et al, 2020;2022a) and recently extended for including geotechnical data (Blecha et al, 2019;Rink et al, 2022b). An overview of the general application setup and the integrated data is given in Figure 1.…”

Section: General Application Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prototype of a Virtual Experiment Information System for the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory

Graebling

Şen²,

Bilke³

et al. 2022

Front. Earth Sci.

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Underground Research Laboratories (URLs) allow geoscientific in-situ experiments at large scale. At the Mont Terri URL in Switzerland, international research groups conduct numerous experiments in parallel. The measured and simulated data as well as research results obtained from them are highly relevant as they improve the general understanding of geological processes, for example in the context of radioactive waste disposal. Unfortunately, the data obtained at the test site is often only available to researchers who are directly involved in a particular experiment. Furthermore, typical visualisation techniques of such data by domain scientists often lack spatial context and accessing and exploring the data requires prior technical knowledge and a high level of effort. We created a digital replica of the Mont Terri URL and thereby implemented a prototype of a Virtual Experiment Information System that integrates highly heterogeneous data from several different sources. It allows accessing and exploring the relevant data embedded in its spatial context without much prior technical knowledge. Both, simulation results and observation data are displayed within the same system. The 4D visualisation approach focuses on three exemplary experiments conducted at Mont Terri and is easily transferable to other experiments or even other URLs. The Unity Game Engine has been used to develop the prototype. This allowed to build the application for various output devices like desktop computers or Virtual Reality hardware without much additional effort. The implemented system reduces the technical effort required to access and explore highly relevant research data and lowers the cognitive effort usually needed to gain insights from measurements, simulation models and context data. Moreover, it promotes exchange among research groups by enabling interactive visualisations embedded in the URL’s spatial context. In addition, a future use of the system for the communication of scientific methods and results to stakeholders or the general public is plausible.

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Section: General Application Setupmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prototype of a Virtual Experiment Information System for the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory

Graebling

Şen²,

Bilke³

et al. 2022

Front. Earth Sci.

Self Cite

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“…A Unity (Unity Technologies 2020) based framework previously introduced for the setup of virtual geographic environments for hydrological (Rink et al 2020) and hydrometeorological (Rink et al 2021) studies has been adapted to create an EIS for this study on energy systems. Existing functionality in terms of data import, data representation, presentation-specific features, and environmental interaction have been adjusted and extended to provide a suitable framework for the datasets and required interaction to create an environmental information system for this particular study.…”

Section: Visualisationmentioning

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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“…A Unity (Unity Technologies, 2020) based framework previously introduced for the setup of virtual geographic environments for hydrological (Rink et al, 2020) and hydro-meteorological (Rink et al, 2021) studies has been adapted to create an EIS for this study on energy systems. Existing functionality in terms of data import, data representation, presentation-specific features and environmental interaction have been adjusted and extended to provide a suitable framework for the datasets and required interaction to create an environmental information system for this particular study.…”

Section: Visualisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Environmental Information System for the Exploration of Energy Systems

Rink¹,

Şen²,

Schwanebeck³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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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 animation 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.

show abstract

A virtual geographic environment for multi-compartment water and solute dynamics in large catchments

Cited by 12 publications

References 47 publications

Prototype of a Virtual Experiment Information System for the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory

Prototype of a Virtual Experiment Information System for the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory

An environmental information system for the exploration of energy systems

An Environmental Information System for the Exploration of Energy Systems

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