Visualization of geographically related multidimensional data in virtual 3D scenes

The usability of visual representations of scientific data can be enhanced significantly by displaying the context in which the quantities were measured. In the case of environmental data of complex ecosystems, these contexts are given as spatial and temporal dependencies. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to visualize the geographical frame of reference in an appropriate way. This article describes our approach for visual analysis of complicated environmental phenomena implemented in our system ViNeu. Aspects like presentations of ecological data with spatial dependence, navigation in the geographical frame of reference and in time, interaction techniques and a connection to a simulation process presented. ViNeu supports both 2D maps and 'real' 3D landscape representations. Furthermore, the system provides many visualization methods for rendering multidimensional data within virtual 3D scenes and combines them with several navigation techniques. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.