UC San Diego

Seismic simulations allow us to study earthquakes in a manner not feasible with the real world. Simulations of earthquakes produce time-dependent vector fields that contain interesting geophysics. Prior visualization strategies focused on slices and volumetric rendering of scalar fields which reduces the observable phenomena. This thesis studies visualization techniques implemented in an interactive glyph visualization application called "GlyphSea" that allows scientists to explore seismic velocity fields. This work draws from a large body of work in glyph rendering and focuses on time-dependent seismic vector fields and is the result of collaboration between domain experts in visualization and seismology. Through the study of vector visualization, several novel techniques were formed. A novel procedural dipole and cross mark texturing enhancement encodes unambiguous vector orientation on any geometry with volume. A novel lattice method was created to show neighborhood which also enables glyph distinction. Visualization is further enhanced by using screen space ambient occlusion, jitter, halos, and displacement