Visualization

The primary vizualization of the mesh output is via Paraview. This allows of efficiently viewing the spatio-temporal data.

_images/paraview.png

Note

If MPI is enabled, the pvd file is the only reasonable way of loading all the parts of the mesh into one view.

Paraview

Download Paraview from the main web site. You do not need to build this from souce.

Datetime plugin

A custom paraview plugin is available to show the date and time.

_images/datetime.gif

Note

The xml plugin AnnotateDateTime.xml is all that is needed. The C++ plugin is deprecated.

To load the plugin in Paraivew: Tools -> Manage Plugins -> Load new -> Navigate to directory and choose the .xml file. If the arrow is clicked, an expanded view is shown. Selecting “auto-load” will ensure the plugin is loaded each launch.

However, the xml file needs to remain in a fixed location for this to work.

_images/plugin_load.png

Otherwise, after restarting Paraview, you will have to reload the plugin via Tools -> Manage Plugins -> Load Selected

Optionally, copy the plugin into the plugins directory of paraview and add <Plugin name="AnnotateDateTime" auto_load="1"/> to the .plugins file. This will load the plugin automatically and not require the xml file in a seperate location.

To add the datetime plugin to the view, load the pvd file and ensure this is selected the left pane. Then, Filters->Search and search for date. Alternatively load via Filters->Annotation->Date Time Annotation.

_images/pluginload.png

Warning

This plugin only works when loading the pvd file.

Stations

A stations.vtp file is written to the root of the output folder that contains the location of each forcing station (the virtual stations). The vtp files are a point dataset of the x,y,z value of the forcing stations, as well as the station name as a label. (See below for output point location file). To view the points in Paraivew:

  • Load the vtp file

  • With the vtp file selected in the Pipeline Browser, choose Point Gaussian as the representation. Change the radius so the point is visible, or decrease it if it is too large.

To view the point labels: - Select vtp file in the pipeline browser - Create a new spreadhseet layout - Select the points you wish to have labels displayed for - View->Selection Display Inspector - Choose Point Labels drop down and select ‘Station name’. - Use the cog next to ‘selection colour’ to change the display font (size, colour, etc)

image0

Remote visualization on Graham

A pvserver can be hosted on Compute Canada’s Graham cluster, allowing for remote visualization without the need to copy files locally. CC notes this is still experimental and crashes do occur. However, it seems to generally work well. Instructions can be found here. Contrary to documentation, some users have found better performance not using --mesa-swr-avx2 and some stability improvements were found too. It is worth trying with and without this option.

For larger domains and complex multi-views, using the GPU nodes appears to be more stable.

For datetime support, the plugin also needs to be loaded on Graham

Warning

The local Paraview client version must exactly match the pvserver version on Graham.