Tecplot
by TecPlot Inc
Here Comes the Sun
Tecplot Helps Grad Students Understand Solar Phenomena.Students at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA) come to the beautiful island of Maui to study the complexities of solar physics. Such studies involve vast amounts of scientific data that would be impossible to comprehend and analyse without the use of leading-edge visualisation tools. So when Professor Ilia Roussev started planning his summer school class at the IfA, he knew advanced visualisation would be a key contributor to his students’ understanding. But he also knew he had limited time in which to train his students on how to use a CFD visualisation tool.
It was an easy dilemma to solve: Roussev had used Tecplot software for the last six years to teach his graduate students how to visualise CFD computations of relevance to solar physics and he was familiar with its flexibility and ease-of-use. His colleagues agreed that Tecplot 360 would be the best tool because of its GUI- based, user-friendly interface. Finally, the Tecplot on Campus program made it easy to implement.
|
Graduate students use Tecplot to simulate solar eruptions in Professor Ilia Roussev’s summer course at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA). These students, mostly space science graduate students from universities in the U.S. and Europe, come to the IfA to study the complexities of solar physics.
|
“We discovered that Tecplot 360 is an extraordinary tool for precise analysis of our simulation results, as well as for creating high-impact 3D visualisations and animations of studied solar phenomena,” says Roussev. “The goal of this lab was two-fold: give the students a brief tutorial in using Tecplot 360, and teach them about some fascinating solar phenomena using the visualisation software.”
The specific assignment was to study the phenomena of solar eruptions, also called coronal mass ejections, which originate from the solar corona. These large-scale eruptions propagate through the solar wind and eventually reach the earth where they interact with the atmosphere and can disrupt communications satellites, electric power, and all kinds of activities on earth. So a deeper understanding the phenomena and its potential effects offers numerous business and social benefits.
The students began by simulating the phenomena using a CFD code originally developed at the University of Michigan, which resulted in a large, one-gigabyte file. Using this enormous dataset, the students were required to visualise, animate, and ultimately gain an understanding of the complex phenomena of solar eruptions.
They were given a snapshot of the 3D CFD simulation and asked to complete a number exercises using Tecplot 360. “The objective was to teach the students how to define their own variables from the set of existing ones in the dataset, how to plot these variables, how to extract iso-surfaces, how to draw streamtraces, and how to extract planes,” says Roussev.
|
The students used a CFD code originally developed at the University of Michigan to generate this simulation image of a solar eruption. Using this enormous dataset, the students were required to visualise, animate, and ultimately gain an understanding of the complex phenomena of solar eruptions. |
Each group of students had only two-and-a-half hours to gain some proficiency in using Tecplot. Even with such tight time constraints, Roussev was happy with the students’ progress. “They all did very well during the lab, and that is because Tecplot is a very intuitive tool to use for beginners. They all succeeded in getting all the lab exercises in time and were quite happy with their results.”
The resulting visualisation of the simulation run showed bubbles, which contain very strong magnetic fields. Roussev says that the students were amazed at how easy it was to visualise these magnetic fields within these solar eruptions.
Looking forward, Roussev is planning a similar class in Denmark. When asked if he was happy with his choice of visualisation tools, Roussev’ says, “Tecplot just fit perfectly into the school curriculum. I could not think of any better visualisation tool to use for our computational lab.”
The Tecplot on Campus program seeks to promote innovation in science and engineering research by providing students of all levels with the most advanced data visualisation and CFD analysis tools available. The program offers full versions of all Tecplot products at substantially reduced prices to academic customers, as well as a variety of licensing options that range from perpetual or annual individual licenses to comprehensive site partner license agreements. Site license partners enjoy the added benefits of free online training, flexible key options, and the new VISEA award program, which is designed to recognise and reward students for their work in visualisation.