All Visualization Projects

One representative visualization from each visualization project is shown here, sorted by project title.


			CCM2 Precipitable Water at T170 Resolution Visualizations of high resolution precipitable water data show the complex global circulation patterns in our atmosphere.


			CCM2 Cloud Fraction and Wind Simulation at T170 Resolution Large scale stable precipitation (PRECL), cloud fraction, and meridional wind components are visualized using a high-resolution (T170) simulation of the CCM2 model.


			CCSM CAM3 T341 Cloud and Precipitation Simulation The Community Atmosphere Model (CAM) is the latest in a series of global atmosphere models developed at NCAR for the weather and climate research communities. CAM also serves as the atmospheric component of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM).


			CCM3 Cloud and Precipitation Simulation at T170 Resolution The NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM3) is a state of the art atmospheric general circulation model designed for climate research on high-speed supercomputers and select upper-end workstations. This cloud and precipitation simulation covers an entire year.


			CFC-11 Deep Ocean Penetration CFC's are man-made pollutants which are extremely inert in sea water and detectable at very low concentrations. Observation concentrations provide a valuable measure of truth for computer models of ocean circulation, particularly with respect to their representation of deep water pathways.


			Climate Change Simulation Temperature anomalies are simulated for the past and future over a 230 year period in a mid-range scenario.


			Climate Change Simulation Temperature anomalies are simulated for the past and future over a 230 year period in a mid-range scenario.


			Climate Change: Drought may threaten much of globe within decades This analysis concludes that warming temperatures associated with climate change will likely create increasingly dry conditions across much of the globe in the next 30 years, possibly reaching a scale in some regions by the end of the century that has rarely, if ever, been observed in modern times.


			Clear Air Turbulence NCAR and NOAA researchers worked together to study an incident where a cargo plane's engine was ripped off by clear air turbulence.


			CO2 & Temperature Differences Monthly average temperature differences are shown here between a 1% CO2 transient experiment and a control run of the Parallel Climate Model (PCM) at T42 resolution.


			Compressible Convection in an Ionizing Fluid (CCIF) The sun rings like a bell. By studying the acoustical properties of the sun we tell what the sun is made of.


			Coral Reef Evolution Coral reefs are one of nature's most beautiful and rich ecosystems, and rival rainforests in biodiversity. This simulation shows the long-term evolution of a coral reef, starting 21,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age.


			Cyclone over Coastal East Asia The ability to predict the behavior of large storm systems is an important and necessary tool for helping save lives and property that can be lost during severe weather events. The MM5 numerical model is used here to simulate the structure and evolution of an East Asia coastal cyclone that occurred in June of 1993.


			El Niño El Niño events that occurred in 1982 and 1997 are shown by viewing global sea surface temperatures, global sea surface temperature anomalies, and tropical cloud cover.


			Fire Simulation on Flat Land The early results shown here help to understand the circulation dynamics of a fire storm on a flat land surface.


			Fire Simulation on 200 Meter Hill This simulation prescribed similiar fuels to the flat land simulation, but with the addition of a 200 meter hill with upslope winds that drive the spread of the fire.


			Fire Shape, Twirls & Bursts Explore the basis of the universal fire shape as well as twirl and burst behavior.


			GATE Cloud Systems A Cloud Resolving Model was run using data from a unique 3D Atlantic tropical experiment, and visualizations were produced showing the formation and evolution of cloud systems during a 7-day period.


			Greenhouse Gases & Sulfate Aerosols Climate models are often used to simulate future climates assuming specific changes in our environment. Predicted global temperature changes are shown by computing the effects of expected increased atmospheric levels of carbon-dioxide and sulfate aerosols.


			Greenhouse Gases & Surface Temperature Change Surface temperature and its predicted change due to increased levels of greenhouse gases are simulated over a period of several decades using the NCAR Climate System Model.


			High-Resolution Daily U.S. Surface Weather Daily total precipitation and daily maximum temperature are animated over a one-year subset (1997) of the 18-year Daymet U.S. Database of high-resolution gridded daily surface weather parameters.


			High Resolution, Multi-Century, Coupled Climate Simulation This animation depicts year 109 from a 155 year climate simulation in which a 0.1 degree ocean and sea-ice model is coupled to a 0.5 degree atmosphere and land model.


			Historical Visualizations See samples from the first 30 years of numerical computation and visualization in atmospheric science.


			HPCC Quasigeostrophic Turbulence Certain types of turbulence that occur in the oceans, atmosphere, or even on other planets are modeled using Quasi-Geostrophic equations. Visualizations of high resolution simulations are studied to help understand the evolution and interaction of rotating structures within a turbulent fluid.


			Hurricane Danny This model simulates a complete eyewall with multiple rain bands with a structure similar to the radar analysis.


			Hurricane Diana Genesis This simulation marks the first time a cloud-resolving simulation has been able to reproduce the formation of a tropical cyclone, given only information about atmospheric conditions on a scale much larger than that of the cyclone.


			Hurricane Katrina 72-Hour Forecast This is a visualization of the forcast of Hurricane Katrina using the Weather Research and Forecasting model.


			Lightning and Ozone Production Lightning emissions produce NOx which is used in the production of Ozone. The MOZART global atmospheric chemistry climate model, developed at NCAR, is used here to investigate this relationship.


			Mesoscale Convective Vortex Squall Line The evolution of a squall line with a mesoscale convective vortex is modeled here using the Klemp-Wilhelmson numerical algorithm. The circulation patterns around the storm along with the interaction of rain, cloud water, and potential temperature are simulated.


			Parallel Ocean Program (POP) Simulation These animations were produced from POP .1 degree ocean simulation data. Colored bands reveal the stratification of ocean surface temperatures extending from the poles to the Earth's equator. Sea surface temperatures can range from below zero Celsius in the darkest blue areas to over thirty degrees Celsius in the red regions.


			Polar Vortex Breakdown In early winter, cold temperatures result in the formation of a strong circumpolar flow in the stratosphere, known as the polar night vortex, producing favorable conditions for ozone depletion.


			Polar Vortex High Resolution Simulation This new simulation of the stratospheric polar night vortex breakdown was computed at a significantly higher resolution than the previous one (two to four times the horizontal and vertical resolution).


			PTCC Enstrophy The outer third of the Sun's radius is convectively unstable. Turbulent motions from this region known as Penetrative Turbulent Compressible Convection (PTCC) may penetrate into stable layers below, mixing temperature, momentum and chemicals.


			PTCC Pumping of Magnetic Fields This research explores the transport of magnetic fields on the Solar surface by Penetrative Turbulent Compressible Convection (PTCC).


			Sea Ice and CO2 Levels After 140 years of a 1% annual increase in CO2, this simulation shows a dramatic reduction in sea ice thickness at the North Pole. Results for the South Pole are also shown.


			Simulation of Big Elk Fire This is a computer simulation of the Big Elk Fire, which occurred 7/17/02 near Lyons, Colorado.


			Solar Magnetic Eruption Solar Magnetic Eruptions (SME), such as Coronal Mass Ejections and Solar Flares, and their impact on Earth's space environment are the target of this Space Weather research.


			Solar Magnetic Flux Tubes Solar Magnetic Flux Tubes are magnetic field concentrations near the surface of the sun. Because of their close relation to their much larger cousins, sun spots, they are of great interest to researchers. Volume visualization is used here to study the formation and collapse of the flux tubes as they evolve over time.


			Stratosphere Circulation Simulation This research looks at transport of chemical constituents in the lower stratosphere.


			Sulfate Aerosol Evolution The NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM3) is used to model sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere that originate from coal burning and smelting operations around the globe.


			Supercell Lightning Simulations These animations model a 1.5 hour supercell evolution and visualize fractal-like lightning branch structures from the storm.


			TIDI Measurements of Upper Atmosphere Dynamics The TIDI instrument collects upper atmosphere wind velocity data as the TIMED satelite orbits the globe. The data shown on the surface of the globe is a hyperslice in time and space depicting upper atmosphere wind speeds.


			Tropical Storm Russ over Lantau Island The Clark-Hall model was used to visualize tropical storm Russ which swept over Lantau Island, site of the Hong Kong Airport.


			Typhoon Herb Typhoon Herb roared across northern Taiwan resulting in the loss of many lives and damage to property due to high winds, flooding, and landslides. Researchers are using advanced computer models and high resolution radar data to study this complex and deadly storm system. This visualization shows a comparison between the observed and model data.


			WRF-Nested Regional Climate Model Simulation of a Hurricane This visualization simulates future regional climate changes in North America.