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Analysis and Visualization Toolset for Environmental Data University of Nevada, Reno AVISTED: Analysis and Visualization Toolset for Environmental Data A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science and Engineering by Likhitha Ravi Dr. Sergiu Dascalu/Dissertation Advisor May, 2018 Copyright by Likhitha Ravi 2018 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the dissertation prepared under our supervision by LIKHITHA RAVI Entitled AVISTED: Analysis And Visualization Toolset For Environmental Data be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Dr. Sergiu Dascalu , Advisor Dr. Frederick Harris, Committee Member Dr. Yaakov Varol, Committee Member Dr. Yantao Shen, Committee Member Dr. Valerie Fridland, Graduate School Representative David W. Zeh, Ph. D., Dean, Graduate School May, 2018 i Abstract Climate modeled datasets are available on the internet for exploration by researchers in the field of environmental sciences. In order to get insight into these large datasets, which are often in varying data formats, climate researchers use data analysis and visualization tools. At present, most of the tools used in the environmental sciences require a user to download and execute software locally, which is inconvenient if the user’s computer does not have sufficient computing power and the size of the dataset is very large. To address this problem, in this dissertation we propose a new approach and supporting software, the Analysis and Visualization Toolset of Environmental Data (AVISTED), aimed at supporting scientific research in environmental sciences. The novelty of the proposed approach lies in the combination of its features, which allow dataset upload, dataset management, dataset extraction, dataset download, and interactive data visualizations. The AVISTED approach is supported through a web-based toolset consisting of capabilities such as User Management, Model Output Management, Model Output, and Archives and Download. Additionally, the toolset supports CSV, ASCII, NetCDF and HDF5 environmental data formats. Also, a new and original approach for software design, GUI-Enhanced Activity Diagrams (GEAD) that links UML activity diagrams with user interface designs is proposed in the design phase of the AVISTED toolset. AVISTED fills the gap between the tools available in the environmental sciences and the generic tools currently used for data analysis and visualization. Although the approach was aimed at assisting researchers in environmental sciences, it can be adapted to other areas where analyses of large datasets are needed. To demonstrate the capabilities of the AVISTED approach and toolset, the dissertation presents three application scenarios that illustrate various modes of operations and work with different data formats using the main features of AVISTED. Details of the proposed GEAD software design technique are also provided. A comparison with related approaches is included, and several directions of future work are also outlined in the thesis. ii Dedication To my family iii Acknowledgment First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Sergiu Dascalu from the bottom of my heart for his invaluable guidance and tremendous support throughout my study. I believe that encouragement and the direction I received from my advisor has helped me in bringing the best out of me. I feel fortunate to be one of the many students he has positively influenced. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Valerie Fridland, Dr. Yantao Shen, Dr. Frederick Harris, and Dr. Yaakov Varol for serving as the committee members for this dissertation. Their ideas, input, and encouragement were most helpful to this dissertation. I am very grateful to Dr. John Mejia, Associate Research Professor of Climatology at the Desert Research Institute, who kindly provided information and guidance for developing VISTED, which later constituted the basis for this dissertation. I am also thankful to Mr. Eric Fritzinger, software developer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno for his assistance in deploying the developed tools of this dissertation on NRDC with his expertise in software engineering. And, my special thanks go to my colleagues Dr. Sohei Okamoto, Mr. Rui Wu, Mr. Connor Scully- Allsion, and Mr. Vinh Le in the Software Engineering Lab at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno for providing valuable information during our discussions in the topics related to data science and climatology. iv This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers EPS-0814372, IIA-1329469 and IIA-1301726. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for the love and support. For my parents who raised me with a value for education in life and motivated me to aim for the skies. Most importantly my husband, Mr. Ajay Sunkara for his patience, and encouragement in bringing my dream of pursuing a PhD to reality. v Table of Contents Abstract i Dedication ii Acknowledgment iii Table of Contents v List of Tables x List of Figures xi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background and Motivation ................................................................................................. 2 1.1.1 The Nexus Project & NRDC ..................................................................................... 3 1.1.2 Need of Scientists ...................................................................................................... 5 1.2 The Problem ......................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Proposed Approach .............................................................................................................. 9 1.4 Structure of the Dissertation ............................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 Background: Tools and Techniques for Visualizing Environmental Data 12 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 13 2.2 Existing Surveys ................................................................................................................. 14 2.3 Overview of Visualization Tools ........................................................................................ 15 2.3.1 ArcGIS .................................................................................................................... 16 vi 2.3.2 AVS/Express ........................................................................................................... 17 2.3.3 GrADS .................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.4 Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) ................................................................................ 19 2.3.5 UV-CDAT ............................................................................................................... 20 2.3.6 VisTrails .................................................................................................................. 20 2.3.7 VisIt ......................................................................................................................... 21 2.3.8 Visualization Toolkit (VTK) ................................................................................... 22 2.3.9 Other Data Visualization Tools ............................................................................... 23 2.4 Simple Taxonomy of Visualization Techniques ................................................................ 26 2.4.1 One-Dimensional .................................................................................................... 27 2.4.2 Two-Dimensional .................................................................................................... 27 2.4.3 Three-Dimensional .................................................................................................. 28 2.4.4 Multi-Dimensional .................................................................................................. 28 2.5 Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 28 2.6 Challenges .......................................................................................................................... 29 Chapter 3 The AVISTED Approach 31 3.1 Problems Addressed ............................................................................................................. 32 3.1.1 Data Formats ........................................................................................................... 32 3.1.2 Large Datasets ......................................................................................................... 33 3.1.3 Data Selection ......................................................................................................... 33 3.1.4 Dataset View ........................................................................................................... 34 3.1.5 Data Upload ............................................................................................................ 34 3.1.6 Data Conversion .....................................................................................................
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