Vortex Lenses for Optimal Local Flow Exploration

Overview

KVL, in a long-term collaboration led by Prof. Markus Hadwiger, explores novel methods for visualizing and analyzing 2D time-dependent flows through their vortex structures.

Work Summary

In the latest part of this project, we describe a novel method for detecting and visualizing vortex structures in unsteady 2D fluid flows. The method is based on an interactive local reference frame estimation that minimizes the observed time derivative of the input flow field.We show the usability of our method in the context of an interactive system using a lens metaphor, and evaluate the results in comparison to state-of-the-art vortex core line extraction methods.

M. Hadwiger, M. Mlejnek, T. Theußl and P. Rautek, Time-Dependent Flow seen through Approximate Observer Killing Fields, in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 1257-1266, Jan. 2019, doi: 10.1109/TVCG.2018.2864839.

P. Rautek, M. Mlejnek, J. Beyer, J. Troidl, H. Pfister, T. Theußl and M. Hadwiger, Objective Observer-Relative Flow Visualization in Curved Spaces for Unsteady 2D Geophysical Flows, in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 283-293, Feb. 2021, doi: 10.1109/TVCG.2020.3030454.

H. Theisel, M. Hadwiger, P. Rautek, T. Theußl and T. Günther; Vortex criteria can be objectivized by unsteadiness minimization. Physics of Fluids 1 October 2021; 33 (10): 107115. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0063817

X. Zhang, M. Hadwiger, T. Theußl and P. Rautek, Interactive Exploration of Physically-Observable Objective Vortices in Unsteady 2D Flow, in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 281-290, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.1109/TVCG.2021.3115565.

P. Rautek, X. Zhang, B. Woschizka, T. Theußl and M. Hadwiger, Vortex Lens: Interactive Vortex Core Line Extraction using Observed Line Integral Convolution, to appear at IEEE Visualization 2023.

Impact

This long-term project with KAUST faculty is an example of KVL's wide-ranging collaborative efforts to develop and expand on state-of-the-art flow visualization visualization techniques for scientific discovery.