\Using 3D Glyph Visualization to Explore Real-time Seismic Data on Immersive and High-resolution Display Systems

A M Nayak, IGPP; K Lindquist, Lindquist Consulting; D Kilb, IGPP; R Newman, IGPP; F Vernon, IGPP; J Leigh, EVL; A Johnson, EVL; L Renambot, EVL

The study of time-dependent, three-dimensional natural phenomena like earthquakes can be enhanced with innovative and pertinent 3D computer graphics. Here we display seismic data as 3D glyphs (graphics primitives or symbols with various geometric and color attributes), allowing us to visualize the measured, time-dependent, 3D wave field from an earthquake recorded by a certain seismic network. In addition to providing a powerful state-of-health diagnostic of the seismic network, the graphical result presents an intuitive understanding of the real-time wave field that is hard to achieve with traditional 2D visualization methods. We have named these 3D icons `seismoglyphs' to suggest visual objects built from three components of ground motion data (north-south, east-west, vertical) recorded by a seismic sensor. A seismoglyph changes color with time, spanning the spectrum, to indicate when the seismic amplitude is largest. The spatial extent of the glyph indicates the polarization of the wave field as it arrive