A hyper-realistic storm simulation released by Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) scientist Leigh Orf recently won a people\u2019s choice award from XSEDE15, an annual gathering of computing experts.<\/p>\n
The simulation is a digital replica of a long-track EF5 storm, the rarest but most devastating type of tornado. Just how realistic is it? See for yourself.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/WL52ogTY9Ak<\/p>\n
As a researcher at Central Michigan University, Orf spent the past year-and-a-half creating the simulation on the Blue Waters supercomputer at the University of Illinois.<\/p>\n
Using data provided by Lou Wicker at NOAA\u2019s National Severe Storms Laboratory, he forecast variables such as wind, temperature, pressure, precipitation, and turbulent kinetic energy with the CM1 open-source atmospheric model, developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).<\/p>\n
He then turned his model data over to visualization specialists Rob Sisneros and David Bock at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), who brought the simulation to life with advanced rendering software.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably no one would mistake it for a real video, but this is the best photorealistic rendering of a supercell I have ever seen,\u201d said Orf, who has studied supercells \u2014 storms characterized by powerfully rotating winds \u2014 and storm simulation techniques for more than a decade. \u201cIt\u2019s breathtaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
While visualizations like this are undeniably eye-pleasing, Orf sees them foremost as an important science tool, allowing scientists to validate their modeling with observations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are visual beings; we look with our eyes,\u201d he said. \u201cMy philosophy has always been that if you are going to model something, like a thunderstorm, if you can\u2019t visualize it in a way that looks real then there\u2019s probably something wrong with your simulation.\u201d<\/p>\n