View-Dependent Multiresolution Splatting of Non-Uniform Data

This paper develops an approach for the splat-based visualization of large scale, non-uniform data. A hierarchical structure is generated that permits detailed treatment at the leaf nodes of the non-uniform distribution. A set of levels of detail (LODs) are generated based on the levels of the hierarchy. These yield two metrics, one in terms of the spatial extent of the bounding box containing the splat and one in terms of the variation of the scalar field over this box. The former yields a view-dependent choice of LODs while the latter yields a view-independent LOD based on the field variation. To show the utility of this general approach it is applied to a set of application data for a whole earth environment and some test data. Performance results are given.