Volume rendering visualization of 3D spherical mantle convection with an unstructured mesh

Abstract

We propose a new approach to utilize the algorithm of hardware-assisted visibility sorting (HAVS) in the 3D volume rendering of spherical mantle convection simulation results over unstructured grid configurations. We will also share our experience in using three different spherical convection codes and then taking full advantages of the enhanced efficiency of visualization techniques, which are based on the HAVS techniques and related transfer functions. The transfer function is a powerful tool designed specifically for editing and exploring large-scale datasets coming from numerical computation for a given environmental setting, and generates hierarchical data structures, which will be used in the future for fast access of GPU visualization facilities. This method will meet the coming urgent needs of real-time visualization of 3D mantle convection, by avoiding the demands of huge amount of I/O space and intensive network traffic over distributed parallel terascale or petascale architecture.

The role of rheology and slab shape on rapid mantle flow: Three‐dimensional numerical models of the Alaska slab edge

“…The increasing incorporation of high performance computing and massive data sets into scientific research has led to the need for high fidelity tools to analyze and interpret the information [ Erlebacher et al , 2001; Kreylos et al , 2006; Chen et al , 2008; Kellogg et al , 2008]. Immersive 3D visualization facilities provide one approach to fill this gap in the workflow, especially when working with complex spatially varying data and nonlinear model behavior [e.g., Kreylos et al , 2006; Billen et al , 2008].…”

Insights on slab-driven mantle flow from advances in three-dimensional modelling

“…3D immersive virtual reality is an active area in Computational Science that is well suited for parsing the influx of digital information now available to the Earth Sciences (Erlebacher et al, 2001;Kreylos et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2008;Kellogg et al, 2008). 3D visualisation can have a direct impact on scientific discovery as hands-on 3D visualisation facilities allow researchers to gain new insights into the 3D modelling results and hence Earth processes (Kreylos et al, 2006;Kellogg et al, 2008;Jadamec and Billen, 2010).…”

“…With Gigabytes of data involved in the geodynamic model design, efficient mechanisms must be in place to inspect the 3D tectonic configurations (Erlebacher et al, 2001;Kreylos et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2008;. Thus open source interactive 3D visualisation software becomes important to enable rapid inspection and interactive exploration of the 3D plate boundary geometry, thermal structure, as well as non-linear mantle flow fields (Kreylos et al, 2006;Kellogg et al, 2008).…”

“…Advances in numerical algorithms combined with the increase in computational resources are allowing high-resolution modelling and the associated examination of three-dimensional, non-linear mantle flow and slab deformation (Zhong et al, 2007;Burstedde et al, 2009;Jadamec and Billen, 2010;Stadler et al, 2010;Burkett and Billen, 2010;Liu and Stegman, 2012;Rudi et al, 2015;Hu et al, 2016). In addition, the coupling of the HPC with immersive 3D data visualisation now allows the user to bring physical meaning to the hundreds of millions of numbers that numerically represent the model, enabling the numerical modeler to grasp the model components as would a laboratory modeler working with a tangible physical construct (Kreylos et al, 2006;Billen et al, 2008;Chen et al, 2008;.…”

Hardware‐Assisted Projected Tetrahedra

“…numerical simulations for fluid dynamics and tensor fields in geosciences [Zeh06]. Even so, direct volume rendering is also employed in important applications such as the visualization of geodynamics phenomena of mantle convection [CZY*08].…”