Visualization of a Tornado-Producing Thunderstorm

A volume-rendered visualization of the cloud and ice fields of a simulated supercell thunderstorm is presented. A long-track devastating tornado is on the ground for the duration of the simulation. The simulation was run at ultra-high resolution on NCSA's Blue Waters supercomputer, utilizing the CM1 cloud model. The rendering is designed to present a realization of the storm that could be compared to field observations of actual supercells. A custom physically-based renderer is used to represent the storm with additional visual and perceptual cues including lighting, deep shadows, and representation of the underlying rectilinear simulation grid.

Credit & Acknowledgements:
Principal Investigator: Leigh Orf, Central Michigan University
Visualization: David Bock, National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Date: July 1, 2015