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Visualizing Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems in 3D
Citation:
Cushing, J., N. Molnar, V. Ratanasangpunth, M. Gaily, D. Lach, J. Bolte, C. Thomas, E. Platt, P. Wingo, G. Orr, K. Schmal, Bob Mckane, A. Brookes, AND S. Stafford. Visualizing Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems in 3D. IEEE VIS 2014, Paris, FRANCE, November 09 - 14, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
The EPA Western Ecology Division (EPA-WED) has been collaborating with computer scientists and social scientists to develop, test and improve VISTAS (Visualization of Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems) software that aims to both help scientists produce effective environmental science visualizations and to determine which visualizations are most helpful to their stakeholders. This poster presentation is for the IEEE VIS 2014 meeting in Paris, France, November 9-14, 2014 (http://ieeevis.org/). IEEE VIS 2014 will bring together researchers and practitioners in the visualization field with a shared interest in tools, techniques and technology. Thus, the IEEE VIS 2014 conference is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate ongoing EPA-WED VISTAS applications and obtain feedback and ideas for improving the software. Dr. Judy Cushing will be presenting on behalf of the VISTAS team.
Description:
The need for better visualization tools for environmental science is well documented, and the Visualization for Terrestrial and Aquatic Systems project (VISTAS) aims to both help scientists produce effective environmental science visualizations and to determine which visualizations are most helpful to scientists and their stakeholders. VISTAS is an interdisciplinary project among computer, environmental, and social scientists. We describe several VISTAS applications in this poster presentation for the IEEE VIS 2014 meeting in Paris, France, November 9-14, 2014 (http://ieeevis.org/). Specifically, scientists at the EPA Western Ecology Division and Oregon State University (OSU) are using VISTAS software to create spatiotemporal animations of multi-gigabyte geospatial datasets that previously have been difficult to understand scientifically and, equally important, to communicate to stakeholders and policy makers. In an iterative procedure, social scientists and computer scientists on the VISTAS team work together to interview the EPA and OSU scientists and, based on feedback about what does or does not work, they then make further improvements to the software. The process is intended to maximize VISTAS’ applicability to trans-disciplinary problems involving a variety of land managers, stakeholders, and community decision-makers faced with balancing environmental, economic and social needs.