Computational and Algorithmic Representations of Geonetric Objects - CARGO: Computational Topology for Exploring Time-varying Volume Data

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

DMS-0138426 Jack S. Snoeyink Scientific measurements and computer simulations of phenomena like air turbulence, nuclear explosions, or combustion in an engine, when conducted at high-performance computing facilities, produce vast amounts of four-dimensional data representing how variables such as temperature and pressure change over time. This incubation project brings together researchers at UNC Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech, and Lawrence Livermore National Labs to develop a prototype visualization tool that can both quickly compute such iso-surfaces from such data sets and also provide a global summary that can indicate where a user should look in the data set to find interesting phenomena. The approach to be taken is to extend work on contour trees to a "Morse theory for a parameterized family of functions" that is sufficient to visualize 4D data from 2D iso-surfaces or slices. When scientists, engineers, and students can explore the data that comes from simulation, their understanding of the process that is being simulated can only improve. This not only increases the return from the national investment in high-performance computing centers, but can also result in, for example, cleaner-burning engines.