Combining Data-intensive Atmospheric Observations and Model Output for Global 4-D Visualization in Google Earth™

Abstract:

The large volume of satellite observational data presents challenges for comparison and interpretation with weather and chemical model simulations. Despite the wide range of visualization tools available, few exhibit potential for fusing these global data in a readily available and user-interactive four-dimensional environment. We demonstrate a promising approach using Google Earth™, which highlights the multivariable display of vertical lidar profile measurements of clouds and aerosols from the CALIPSO satellite mission with time-dependent composite satellite cloud imagery and numerical weather model data. The resulting display of these data enables users, with virtually any desktop, to explore how phenomena evolve over a range of scales on a spherical Earth projection. We finally address some limitations that exist with this Google Earth™ approach and discuss ongoing efforts to improve its data rendering.