https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8606-1204
![Sample our Geography journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5937/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Geography.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Communicating and understanding climate induced environmental changes can be challenging, especially using traditional representations such as graphs, maps or photos. Immersive visualizations and experiences offer an intuitive, visceral approach to otherwise rather abstract concepts, but creating them scientifically is challenging. In this paper, we linked ecological modeling, procedural modeling, and virtual reality to provide an immersive experience of a future forest. We mapped current tree species composition in northern Wisconsin using the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and then forecast forest change 50 years into the future under two climate scenarios using LANDIS-II, a spatially-explicit, mechanistic simulation model. We converted the model output (e.g., tree biomass) into parameters required for 3D visualizations with analytical modeling. Procedural rules allowed us to efficiently and reproducibly translate the parameters into a simulated forest. Data visualization, environment exploration, and information retrieval were realized using the Unreal Engine. A system evaluation with experts in ecology provided positive feedback and future topics for a comprehensive ecosystem visualization and analysis approach. Our approach to create visceral experiences of forests under climate change can facilitate communication among experts, policy-makers, and the general public.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.
7. Data and codes availability statement
The data and codes that support the findings of this study are available with a DOI at http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.11873883 and http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.11873967
Notes
1. The demo video of the visualization can be found at https://vimeo.com/320844373 and in the supplementary material.
10. http://www.esri.com/software/cityengine
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Jiawei Huang
Jiawei Huang is a fifth year Ph.D. student (major: GIS; minor: computational science). Before Ph.D., she completed her master at University of Michigan – Ann Arbor in 2016. Her research interest lies in VR, 3D and HCI. Development-wise, she has been developing VR and 3D applications for geovisualization, digital humanities, and environmental visualization. Research-wise, her dissertation is on the effects of fidelities on spatial memory. Her portfolio can be found here: https://sites.psu.edu/jade/. Contact her at [email protected].
Melissa S. Lucash
Dr. Melissa Lucash is a research assistant professor at University of Oregon with a Ph.D. in Forest Ecology (SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 2005) and a M.D. degree in Environmental Science (Oregon State University, 1996). Dr. Lucash has acquired over $7 million in federal grants and published 24 peer-reviewed papers. Her research interests are in forest ecology, disturbances (especially wildfire) and visualization. Her website can be found here: https://melissalucash.com/. Contact her at [email protected].
Robert M. Scheller
Dr. Robert M. Scheller. Education: B.S., Biology, University of Minnesota-Duluth, 1991; M.S. Forestry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, May 2000; Ph.D., Forest Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, May 2004. Employment: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Research Associate, 2004 – 2005; University of Wisconsin-Madison, Assistant Scientist, 2005 – 2007; Conservation Biology Institute, Senior Ecologist, 2007 – 2009; Portland State University, Assistant Professor, 2009 – 2014; Portland State University, Associate Professor, 2014– 2017; North Carolina State University, Professor, 2017 – present. Achievements: Member Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program and the Emerging Plant Diseases and Global Food Security Cluster; President of the International Association for Landscape Ecology; Director of the Dynamic Ecosystems and Landscape Lab with 5/3 PhD/MS students graduated and 4 current PhD students; Founder and Treasurer of The LANDIS-II Foundation; Faculty Fellow of the Center for Geospatial Analytics and Faculty Affiliate of the Southeast Climate Science Center; Associate Editor of Landscape Ecology and Frontiers in Forests and Global Change; Published more than 80 manuscripts and book chapters (h-index = 32); Received funding from NSF, DOD, USDA, USFS, USGS, BLM, EPA, TNC, and others. Over $7.2M funded in the past 10 years; Member of the American Geophysical Union, Ecological Society of America, Int’l Assoc. for Landscape Ecology, Society of American Foresters. Scheller’s research focuses on how landscapes have changed, how they will change, and why it matters. Specifically, his research examines landscape change, specifically in regards to climate change and human activities, management, and values. He forecasts landscape change to inform policy choices, regionally and globally.
Alexander Klippel
Dr. Alexander Klippel received his masters in Geography in 1997 and his Ph.D. in Informatics and Mathematics in 2003. He is Professor of Geographic Information Science and Affiliate Professor of Information Science and Technology at The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Geography since 2007, held a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Melbourne (School of Engineering, 2004-06) as well as UC Santa Barbara (Geography, 2003-04). He is on the editorial board of Spatial Cognition and Computation, Geo-Spatial Information Science, and Journal of Spatial Information Science. He was the General Chair of the 2008 Spatial Cognition Conference and is Technical Co-Chair of the Immersive Learning Research Network Conference 2020. Alexander is the current Gosnell Senior Faculty Scholar in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, was the first Stuckeman Center for Design Computing Faculty Fellow as well as a Teaching and Learning with Technology Fellow. Alexander has received four best paper awards of which he was lead-author on three. He is and was PI or Co-PI on more than a dozen funded research grants and has published over 100 peer-reviewd papers, including 34 journal papers. He has been named the inaugural Director of Penn State’s Center for Immersive Experiences (https://immersive.psu.edu/).