Aqua-3D: An underwater network animator

Research on developing Underwater Sensor Networks (UWSNs) has increased over the last few years. Due to the high costs of deployment and dangerous ocean environments, real-world field tests are not always a viable option. Therefore, a majority of researchers rely on simulations to perform experiments. Visualization of simulation results and field test experiments provide researchers with a vivid animation of the events and conditions that occurred, allowing for a more intuitive understanding of the system. There are many simulators and animators for terrestrial networks but few such tools exist for UWSNs. In this paper, we present a 3D underwater sensor network animator called Aqua-3D. This visualization tool has the ability to read trace files, which can be generated by an existing UWSN simulator or from field test experiments and animate the simulations in full 3D graphics. The accuracy of Aqua-3D´s visualizations have been verified through test scenarios generated from field tests. Aqua-3D is a robust visualization tool with the ability to correctly visualize trace files of underwater network simulations, while providing a number of additional features.