Visualization of Time-Dependent Velocity Fields by Texture Transport

Abstract

Vector field visualization is an important topic in scientific visualization. The aim is to graphically represent field data in an intuitively understandable and precise way, which should be closely related to the physical interpretation. A new tool, the texture transport method is presented, which especially applies to time-dependent velocity fields. It is based on an accurate numerical scheme for convection equations, which is used to compute Lagrangian coordinates in space time. These coordinates are then used as texture coordinates referring to some prescribed texture in the Lagrangian reference space. The method is combined with a reliability indicator. This indicator in uences the final appearance of the texture and thereby leads to reliable visual information. At first the method applies to 2D problems. It can be generalized to 3D.