Concrete results: A new and improved SCD Visualization Laboratory is under construction near the NCAR computer room. Scheduled for completion by spring 2001, the facility will allow users to better analyze output from extensive climate simulations.

Here, workers tear out eight-inch slabs of concrete to make room for a false floor in the new Vis Lab. The false floor will house extensive network and power cabling for the lab's high-tech equipment.

The expanded lab will be a state-of-the-art facility providing an improved environment for users to explore large data sets. It will offer a massive 18'x8' projection screen as well as technology for remote collaboration, video conferencing, and simultaneous communication among scientific centers.

Two 3D Quicktime movies of the Vis Lab are available on the Web: an introduction (1.3 MB) and a "fly through" (8.0 MB).

Photo: Lynda Lester/SCD