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Visualizing Gridded Datasets with Large Number of Missing Values. Suzana Djurcilov and Alex Pang University of California, Santa Cruz. OVERVIEW. Motivation NEXRAD Background Visualization Options Conclusions and Suggestions Future Directions. Motivation.
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Visualizing Gridded Datasets with Large Number of Missing Values Suzana Djurcilov and Alex Pang University of California, Santa Cruz
OVERVIEW Motivation NEXRAD Background Visualization Options Conclusions and Suggestions Future Directions
Motivation • Known visualization tools (e.g. VTK) often assume full grid • Filling grids with arbitrary values causes incorrect visualizations
Background • NEXRAD (WSR-88D) is a 3D radar • Output is a conical grid with usually no more than 4% filled • Standard viz methods are 2D
3 1 3 1 5 5 99.99 -99.99 Incorrect contours when using arbitrary values Threshold = 2.0
Point Cloud • Draw a point or sphere at point location • Advantage: quick and simple • Disadvantage: cluttering, poor depth perception
Interpolation • Very useful for evenly distributed data • Many choices: Shepard’s, Multiquadrics, Krigging etc. • Need to be careful to preserve desired properties in the data
Interpolation - Distribution types Clustered Uniform
Interpolation - artifacts Stack-of-pancakes artifact from Shepard’s
Delaunay • Take a subset around a certain treshold • Connect the points using Delaunay triangulation • Advantage: widely available • Disadvantage: connected regions, convex shapes
Surface reconstruction • Hoppe et al. 1992 - treat the subset as unorganized points • Recreate the surface using tangent-planes incident to the mesh points • Advantage: plausible surface from a subset • Disadvantage: choppy edges
Take an average of neighboring normals Use only available data Modified Normals
Modified Normals before after
Take an average of neighboring gradients Move surface vertices in direction of the gradient Takes out very sharp features Modified Isosurface
Modified Isosurface before after
Smoothed Isosurface • Taubin 1995 - Gaussian smoothing of vertex points • Alternative inward and outward steps • Advantage: takes out sharp edges • Disadvantage: possibility of excessive smoothing
Conclusions • Sparse gridded datasets can be handled as gridded or scattered • Standard methods need adjustments for missing values • We present two options for improving isosurfaces
Suggestions • For very sparse data use scattered methods • Interpolation best for uniform distribution • Clustered data better treated raw • With high-frequency data post-process isosurfaces with smoothing
Future Work • Expand into other physical sciences • Experiment with vector algorithms • Apply a variety of gradient filters
Acknowledgements • Wendell Nuss, NPS, Monterey • ONR grant N00014-96-0949, NSF grant IRI-9423881, DARPA grant N66001-97-8900, NASA grant ncc2-5281 • Santa Cruz Laboratory for Visualization and Graphics (SLVG)
UCSC http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/research/slvg/nexrad.html Point Cloud Delaunay Surface Reconstruction Smoothed Isosurface
Volume Visualization Default transfer function Transfer function not including missing values