University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Interactive visualization framework for space plasma data sets

Hu, Huizi

Content Files
HU-THESIS-2021.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/110689

Description

Title
Interactive visualization framework for space plasma data sets
Author(s)
Hu, Huizi
Issue Date
2021-04-23
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Ilie, Raluca
Department of Study
Electrical & Computer Eng
Discipline
Electrical & Computer Engr
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Level
Thesis
Date of Ingest
2021-09-17T02:34:34Z
Keyword(s)
  • plotly
  • visualization
  • python
  • space science
Abstract
The capability of visualizing numerical data sets to graphs is imperative to our understanding of space physics. However, traditional visualization tools used in the space science community are either proprietary, lack portability or require paid license subscriptions. Therefore we are attempting to resolve these shortcomings by developing cross-platform, free-to-use, easily set up interactive visualization tools that is accessible to any web browsers. This project will showcase five different applications based on a Python framework called Dash developed by plotly. These applications are proved to be capable of visualizing 3D space physics data sets including satellite measurements, ground measurements, or numerical model simulation results. The first two applications use the Cluster II satellite measurement data set provided by ESA, courtesy of Dr.~Elena Kornberg from the Max Plank Institute. The third and the fourth applications use the simulated magnetic field data generated by the Tsyganenko magnetic field model. The fifth application visualizes ion density from an empirical model based on geo-tail data while the final application can plot calculation results from the Polar Wind Outflow Model. By demonstrating the advantages of our visualization tool, we hope to show the significance of a generalized framework, which could benefit the entire space science community. Due to the time constraint of this project, we did not explore all the options provided by Dash. However, we firmly believe this tool has great potential and will be more powerful with additional features such as parallel computing, cloud computing, and the ability to record animations.
Graduation Semester
2021-05
Type of Resource
Thesis
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110689
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2021 Huizi Hu

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Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
Dissertations and Theses - Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dissertations and Theses in Electrical and Computer Engineering