Visual analytics of paleoceanographic conditions

Abstract

Decade scale oceanic phenomena like El Ni no are correlated with weather anomalies all over the globe. Only by understanding the events that produced the climatic conditions in the past it will be possible to forecast abrupt climate changes and prevent disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment. Paleoceanography research is a collaborative effort that requires the analysis of paleo time-series, obtained from a number of independent techniques and instruments, produced by several researchersand/or laboratories. Analytical reasoning techniques that combine the judgment of paleoceanographers with automated reasoning techniques are needed to gain deep insights about these phenomena. This paper presents an interactive visual analysis environment for paleoceanography that enables the discovery of unexpected relationships and supports the reconstruction of climatic conditions of the past.