Interactive 3D-visualization of a Solar Particle Event for Public Outreach

Sammanfattning: This report presents the work of our Master´s thesis carried out remotely at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center. In collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Linköping University and Predictive Science Inc. The report presents and evaluates an implementation of an interactive 3D visualization of a Solar Particle Event in OpenSpace, an open source astrovisualization software. Data from a model developed by Predictive Science Inc. was used to implement the visualization. The visualization is done by visualizing fluxes of particles as points and utilizing a volumetric data set by applying 2D textures to geometrical shapes. The goal of these visualizations is to help describe the effect of space weather phenomena to the general public. The research conducted is focused on how to visualize a big Solar Particle Event to emphasize or showcase different aspects, such as the radiation exposure close to Earth. The result of the work is an interactive real-time visualization of a Solar Particle Event designed for public outreach. The project culminated in two live streamed events with AMNH, in collaboration with NASA and Predictive Science Inc.