The MetVR case study: meteorological visualization in an immersive virtual environment

Abstract

Traditional methods for displaying weather products are generally two-dimensional (2D) plots or just text format. It is hard for forecasters to get the entire picture of the atmosphere using these methods. The problems apparent in 2D with comparing and correlating multiple layers are overcome simply by adding a dimension. This is important because pertinent features in the data sets may lie in multiple layers and span several time steps. However, simply using a three-dimensional (3D) approach is not enough. The capacity for analysis of small-scale, but important, features in 2D are lost when transitioning to 3D. We propose that 3D's advantages can be incorporated with 2D's small-scale analysis by using an immersive virtual environment. In this case study, we evaluate our current standing with the project: have we met our goals, and how should we proceed from this point? To evaluate our application, we invited meteorologists to use the application to explore a data set. Then we presented our goals and asked which ones had we met, from a meteorologist's perspective. The results qualitatively reflected that our application was effective and further research would be worthwhile.