Feature detection in linked derived spaces

This paper describes by example a strategy for plotting and interacting with data in multiple metric spaces. The example system was designed for use with time-varying computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data sets, but the methodology is directly applicable to other types of field data. The central objects embodied by the tool are portraits, which show the data in various coordinate systems, while preserving their spatial connectivity and temporal variability. The coordinates are derived in various ways from the field data, and an important feature is that new and derived portraits can be created interactively. The primary operations supported by the tool are brushing and linking: the user can select a subset of a given portrait, and this subset is highlighted in all portraits. The user can combine highlighted subsets from an arbitrary number of portraits with the usual logical operators, thereby indicating where an arbitrarily complex set of conditions holds. The system is useful for exploratory visualization and feature detection in multivariate data.