Visualization and Analysis Platform for Ocean, Atmosphere, and Solar Research (VAPOR)




		This is a visualization of the dynamics of the solar interior. (Image courtesy of Geoff Vasil, University of Colorado.) VAPOR provides a desktop environment for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of high-resolution numerical simulations of turbulence. VAPOR facilitates human understanding of complex geosciences phenomena by allowing researchers to analyze high-resolution data at locations remote from the supercomputing facilities where it is generated.

The VAPOR project is an Open Source software development effort to improve the ability of Earth sciences researchers to analyze and interpret results from some of largest numerical simulation outputs in the geosciences. VAPOR is one component of a larger NSF-ITR-funded research and development project to study time-varying data whose collaborators include NCAR, the University of California at Davis, and the Ohio State University. With NCAR leading software development and our university collaborators taking the lead on research, a mutually beneficial relationship has been established. NCAR provides a steady supply of interesting research challenges to our university partners who help provide solutions to some of our most difficult visualization and data analysis problems. Development of VAPOR is closely guided by a steering committee comprised of turbulence researchers from around the world. This panel of experts sets development priorities, dictates software requirements, and serves as friendly users for testing and evaluating new software features.

Decades of continual advancements in microprocessor technologies have led to numerical simulations of earth sciences phenomena computed at unprecedented scales. These simulations generate extraordinary amounts of data. But our ability to manage, analyze, and gain insights from these data has not kept pace with our ability to generate them. For many numerical modelers, the greatest challenge in the discovery process begins after the simulation has completed when the analysis process begins. The VAPOR project focuses on the problem of large-data exploration with an intelligent approach: by exploiting multiresolution data representation coupled with advanced interactive visualization and quantitative analysis capabilities, VAPOR provides a comprehensive desktop environment suitable for exploring terascale-size data sets.

VAPOR supports two of NCAR's strategic priorities: "Developing and providing advanced services and tools" and "Creating an Earth system knowledge environment."

Noteworthy events in FY2007 include:

Two new major versions of the software were completed and released.
Over 2,000 copies of VAPOR have been download by the scientific community. VAPOR is widely in use by research groups worldwide.
VAPOR has been cited in multiple refereed scholarly scientific publications and numerous scientific presentations.
The VAPOR team continued its education efforts, hosting Ph.D. interns from the University of Colorado and the Colorado School of Mines
An invited paper on VAPOR was published by New Journal of Physics.
VAPOR was the cornerstone of NCAR's initial TeraGrid visualization efforts.

Version 1 of VAPOR targeted physicists investigating numerically simulated turbulence. Work in FY2008 will broaden VAPOR's capabilities to better meet the needs of a more general Earth and space sciences computational fluid dynamics community. Preliminary research in more aggressive data reduction techniques has been promising; this is the cornerstone to another key area of future development: preparing for petascale computation.

This project is made possible through support from NSF's Information Technology Research for National Priorities (ITR) program, supported by NSF award 0325934 through subaward 009323-01 with the University of California at Davis.