EXPLORING SCHEMES FOR VISUALIZING URBAN WIND FIELDS BASED ON CFD SIMULATIONS BY EMPLOYING OGC STANDARDS

Abstract

In this paper various schemes for visualizing geo-spatial data such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data are explored. The architecture of a new Smart Cities Platform is presented and examples of the visualization capabilities are given. Results show that scalar and vectorial measurands, such as wind pressure and wind directions, may be presented using the same schemes, however, interpretation of the visualization varies between measurands. A hex-grid representation of the highly dense point cloud data yields easier interpretation of the scene as do streamlines for visualizing a path of flow over and around buildings. Results of performance evaluations suggest that the same visualisation scheme (e.g. hex-grid) but different data formats, yields faster loading times when using 3D Tiles rather than GeoJSON and an overall smoother interaction within the application.