A VR-Ocean system for interactive geospatial analysis and 4D visualization of the marine environment around Antarctica

The development of the VR-Ocean system coincides with the first availability of more than 15 years (1992–2009) of the merged altimeter data from up to four concurrent satellite missions (Topex/Poseidon, ERS-1 and 2, ENVISAT, Jason-1, and Geosat Follow-On) and ETOPO1 Ice Surface data (1 arc-minute global relief model of the Earth's surface that integrates land topography and ocean bathymetry). In the polar-region-oriented VR-Ocean system, the seabed and continental topography data south of 45°S were organized in a circular area and rendered in the form of geometry clipmaps. Maps of Sea-Level Anomalies (MSLA) data for the same district were extracted and streamlined in time order. A memory-mapped file was used to accelerate file loading speed, and sea surfaces of different times were rendered in turn as a vertex buffer object (VBO) and accelerated by the graphic processing unit (GPU). As a result, roaming anywhere at any angle of view and geospatial analysis are interactively obtained and dynamically presented in real-time using the 4D VR-Ocean system. As an attempt, we did a case study on ice melting and sea-level rise around the Antarctic. This system is expected to make a significant contribution to the description, understanding, prediction, and demonstration of 4D information and properties on both regional and hemispheric scales in a virtual environment.