GWVis: A tool for comparative ground-water data visualization

by Daniel Best, M.S. Washington State University May 2009 Chair: Robert R. Lewis The Ground-Water Visualization system (GWVis) presents ground-water data visually in order to educate the public on ground-water issues. It is also intended for presentations to government and other funding agencies. GWVis works with ground-water level elevation data collected or modeled over a given time span, together with a matching fixed underlying terrain. Our tool is developed using the Python programming language in conjunction with associated extension packages and application program interfaces such as OpenGLTMto improve performance and allow us fine control of attributes of the model such as lighting, material properties, transformations, and interpolation. There are currently several systems available for visualizing ground-water data. One class, research oriented models, are overly complex and require training to interact with. Another class, static, presentation based representations (i.e., on paper) are not engaging, and have difficulty to representing multiple data dimensions. GWVis bridges the gap between static and research based visualizations by providing an intuitive, interactive design that allows participants to view the model from different perspectives and to infer information about simulations. By incorporating scientific data in an environment that be easily understood, GWVis allows that