Company Background:
3D Multi-Sensor Display

This interactive 3D research tool, developed in the early 1990s at NASA by Digital Radiance's founder, Ron Phillips, allowed scientists to visualize approaching thunderstorms at NASA's Cape Canaveral launch facility. It provided visual integration of the following time-varying data:

• ground images taken by aircraft-mounted cameras
• data from spatially irregular ground-based lightning detection sensors
• 3D volumetric radar data
• airborne meteorological point-sampled data (e.g., temperature, pressure, electrical charge, etc.)
• coastline vector data.

Interactive 3D display of time-varying volumetric radar, lightning, and airborne point-sampled data from NASA's Cape Canaveral launch facility.

A novel feature of the tool was its display of volumetric radar as a true 3D volume, with the ability to slice the data volume at any angle as well as show and hide the various reflectivity levels for better visualization of the threatening layers in the storm. Also unique was the capability to visually correlate the stronger radar returns with lightning strike locations and intensity.  The display could be interactively rotated, panned, or zoomed as the data changed over time.