Particle System-Based Multi-Hierarchy Dynamic Visualization of Ocean Current Data

Abstract

In three-dimensional (3D) digital Earth environment, there are many problems when using the existing methods to express the ocean current, such as uneven distribution of seed points, density leap in scale change and messy visualization. In this paper, a new dynamic visualization method of multi-hierarchy flow field based on particle system is proposed; Specifically, three typical spherical uniform algorithms are studied and compared, and the streamline becoming denser from the equator to the poles on globe is eliminated by placing seed points using Marsaglia polar method as the most efficient. In addition, a viewport-adaptive adjustment algorithm is proposed, which realizes that the density of particles is always suitable to any viewing distance during continuous zooming. To solve the visual representation deficiency, we design a new dynamic pattern to enhance the expression and perception of current, which makes up for the shortcoming of the arrow glyph and streamline methods. Finally, a prototype of GPU parallel and viewport coherence is achieved, whose feasibility and effectiveness are verified by a series of experiments. The results show that our method can not only represent ocean current data clearly and efficiently, but also has outstanding uniformity and hierarchy effect.