Visualization of Three Dimensional Lattice Data of the World Ocean by Hierarchical Representation Methods
Shinsuke Suga, Hiroaki Suzaki, Masataka Watanabe · Oceanography in Japan · 1992
This report is concerned with computer graphics for three dimensional lattice data of the world ocean. As an example of such a data set we use climatological data of the world ocean by Levitus. For visualization of the data we apply hierarchical representation methods that are considered to be useful for region representation. A quadtree data structure is constructed for two dimensional representation, and an octree data structure for three dimensional one. Some examples for two and three dimensional representation of salinity distribution in the Pacific Ocean are shown. It is found that hierarchical methods are effective especially for three dimensional representation compared with a simple method without tree data structure. Further we try three dimensional representation of water temperature distribution in a region with specific salinity values by extending an octree method.