Visualization of time-dependent flow fields

Presently, there are very few visualization systems available for time-dependent flow fields. Although existing visualization systems for instantaneous flow fields may be used to view time-dependent flow fields at discrete points in time, the time variable is usually not considered in the visualization technique. We present a simple and effective approach for visualizing time-dependent flow fields using streaklines. A system was developed to demonstrate this approach. The system can process many time frames of flow fields without requiring that all the data be in memory simultaneously, and it also handles flow fields with moving grids. We have used the system to visualize streaklines from several large 3-D time-dependent flow fields with moving grids. The system was able to provide useful insights to the physical phenomena in the flow fields