4D KMZ APPROACH TO GEOPHYSICAL ANALYSIS IN VIRTUAL GLOBES

COLLADA™ based structures are used to depict complex spatial information in KMZ formatted files for Virtual Globes such as Google Earth and NASA World Wind. These structures are time stamped to support animation, and can be combined with collocated spatial information for correlative analysis. We apply the 4D KMZ approach to depict triangulated NEXRAD information gathered during the 4 April 2009 eruption of Mt. Redoubt. This analysis reveals the effect of NEXRAD beam occultation on the visibility of the Redoubt plume as it passes behind blocking terrain. Emerging capabilities for weather model insertion and air trajectory analysis are superimposed to demonstrate their value for emergency operations during volcanic events.

The framework for representing and processing 4D geophysical information in Virtual Globes is known as “COLLADA Computing.” The COLLADA model is a linear approximation to complex surfaces, and the desired level of precision in modeling a 4D structure is obtained by adjusting model detail. Computationally efficient combinations of such structures can provide useful derived products at selected levels of spatial resolution and product accuracy. Representative examples demonstrate Virtual Globe operations in the atmospheric, oceanographic, geologic and near-Earth space environments. Case studies have also been explored at the boundaries of these spatial and disciplinary domains, including air-sea, benthic, and the “Whole Earth” environment. Virtual Globes transcend traditional disciplinary thinking to enable geophysical modeling “up in the air, way out in space, deep down below, and all over the place.”