HR: 09:15h
AN: S51B-06    [PDF]
TI: MSLT, Multi Surface Light Table, a Tool for Viewing Faults Under Their Terrain
AU: * Siegel, H
EM: Herb.Siegel@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Li, P
EM: Peggy.Li@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AB: The QuakeSim project [1] was created to develop a solid earth science framework for creating an understanding of active tectonic and earthquake processes and to construct a fully interoperable system of tools for studying these processes. QuakeSim framework includes a new federated fault database that defines earthquake faults. It also includes three major simulation tools: GeoFEST, PARK and Virtual California. Virtual California is a Monte Carlo simulation that generates simulated earthquakes on a network of fault segments that are mediated by elastic interaction. The most effective way to visualize the geographic parameters of the faults is to display them as surfaces with their associated terrain. With low cost, high performance graphics hardware, we are able to observe fault models with high-resolution terrain and elevation interactively. Moreover, we are able to visualize the dynamic characteristics of the faults, such as the time-varying slip and stress values generated by Virtual California. In addition to the visualization of faults in a 3D environment, mapping dynamic parameters with appropriate visual features would lead to intuitive understanding of time dependent fault interactions. We built the Multi Surface Light Table (MSLT) as an interactive tool to view earthquake fault segments underneath its associated terrain. The fault segments, represented as rectangular surfaces at a dip angle, are organized into collections, i.e., faults. An interface was built in MSLT to query and retrieve fault definitions from the QuakeSIM fault database. MSLT also reads time-varying output from the Virtual California simulation. The slip and stress are represented by color and intensity variation on the fault segments. MSLT's interactive controls provide a virtual trackball, pan and zoom, simulation playback, and simulation movie capture. In addition, MSLT also displays the geographical information of the fault segments and their collections on text windows. Because of the extensive viewing controls, faults can be seen in relation to one another and to the land as well as the ocean. These relations may be realized in simulations. Correlated slips in parallel faults are visible in the playback of Virtual California simulation. This is an example of the ability of the visual cortex to pick out complex relationships with ease when presented with an appropriate view. In this presentation, we will describe the technologies used to build MSLT, the hierarchical data structure we used to represent large terrain and image datasets in order to allow real-time pan and zoom, and the Java client used to interface the QuakeSIM database. We will also demonstrate the operation of MSLT using California faults and Virtual California simulation results. [1] http://www-aig.jpl.nasa.gov/public/dus/quakesim/
DE: 5475 Tectonics (8149)
DE: 7209 Earthquake dynamics and mechanics
DE: 7215 Earthquake parameters
SC: Seismology [S]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting