This project, the Vector Field Visualization (VFV) Project, is an integrated effort to apply new and existing visualization techniques to help understand the structure of vector fields, especially within areas of computational engineering. The project will use visualization as means of improving research and promoting the sciences within Mississippi and the surrounding region. The project will study vector field visualization for vector fields arising in a variety of engineering disciplines, including fluid mechanics, meteorology, materials science, and electricity/magnetism. There are four components to the research in this project. (1) The VFV Project promotes VFV as a distinct subdiscipline of data visualization by devising new technique, applying and improving existing techniques, performing visualization analysis, and exploring parallelism to generate efficient and effective imagery to study vector fields and communicate results. The research methods include multidimensional display of vector fields; optimal placement of flow lines; improvements to and analysis of Line Integral Convolution; mixed-dimensional illumination of tufts; iconic display of vector fields; and interpolation of visualization over time. (2) The Project will apply VFV techniques to real datasets of interest to researchers in engineering disciplines by soliciting datasets from researchers at the NSF ERC for CFS as well as from government research labs. (3) The project will promote the development of a center of excellence in VFV at Mississippi State university. (4) The Project will disseminate research results nationwide through conferences, journals, and the internet.
