Interactive 3D/2D visualization for geophysical data processing and interpretation

A new 3D/2D interactive display server was developed for the IGeoS geophysical data processing framework presented earlier. With introduction of this major component, the framework becomes conceptually complete and potentially bridges the gap between traditional processing and interpretation geophysical software. The display server utilizes Qt toolkit and OpenGL graphics libraries while taking advantage of the object-oriented design of the core data processing system. It operates by creating image object trees that are automatically propagated to the server(s) residing on the same or remote hosts and producing complex, structured, and interactive data displays. The displays support custom interactive graphical user interfaces, which are constructed entirely by the user and do not require computer coding. With over 200 specialized processing tools available, this approach allows creating 3D visualizations and building custom interactive data analysis, interpretation, and modeling tools in many areas of application. In particular, we show examples of integration of seismic ray tracing, gravity, and receiver function modeling and inversion in deep crustal studies. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.