SGER: Weddell Seal Visualization Project

SGER：威德尔海豹可视化项目

• 批准号: 0433496
• 负责人: Terrie Williams
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-07-01 至 2005-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0433496&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Weddell; Seal; Visualization; Project

During the past six years, over 600 hours of videotape documenting the under ice ecosystem andforaging events of Weddell seals have been recorded with corresponding 3-dimensional divepaths and metabolic measurements. This data set has enabled a team of researchers to identify the ecological role of different dive types of free-ranging seals and to examine the strategies used by the animals for cost efficient hunting while breathholding on a dive. In order to fully understand the underlying mechanisms that drive diving strategies and foraging decisions of Weddell seals, as well as other marine predators, there is a need to develop new approaches for presenting the diverse types of data (i.e. numerical, observational, digital) collected by multiple sensors placed on the animals. This proposal addresses the problem by exploring novel formats for visualizing complex data sets. By combining video game animation and virtual environment visualization technology, the scientists will create a software platform for incorporating standard spreadsheet data sets to simultaneously display physiological, behavioral, environmental, and movement patterns of Weddell seals diving beneath the Antarctic ice. Specific goals include developing a software tool that displays spreadsheet data as a 3-D animation, integrating behavioral data with the 3-dimensional movements of free ranging Weddell seals, creating a visual representation of the under ice ecosystem for McMurdo Sound, and testing the effectiveness of the display on students and marine mammal researchers.This study will be one of the first to integrate video game technology with scientific databases from wild animals, and as such is both novel and risky. The resulting program will allow investigators to move beyond the typical 2 - 3 parameter correlative presentations and to develop virtual environments for a wide variety of marine predators. It will also provide a unique teaching tool for students of Antarctic ecology and diving physiology. As such, the project benefits science, engineering, and education fields, provides a novel approach to the presentation of scientific data, and applies new expertise/perspectives (video game technology) to common scientific research problems characterized by too much data and too few options for critical analysis, synthesis and integration.

在过去的六年里，超过600小时的录像记录了冰下生态系统和威德尔海豹的觅食事件，并记录了相应的三维潜水和代谢测量。该数据集使一组研究人员能够确定不同潜水类型的自由放养海豹的生态作用，并检查动物在潜水时屏气捕猎时所使用的成本效益策略。为了充分了解威德尔海豹以及其他海洋捕食者的潜水策略和觅食决策的潜在机制，需要开发新的方法来呈现由放置在动物身上的多个传感器收集的不同类型的数据（即数值、观测、数字）。本提案通过探索可视化复杂数据集的新格式来解决这个问题。通过结合视频游戏动画和虚拟环境可视化技术，科学家们将创建一个软件平台，将标准电子表格数据集结合起来，同时显示威德尔海豹在南极冰层下潜水的生理、行为、环境和运动模式。具体目标包括开发一种软件工具，将电子表格数据显示为三维动画，将行为数据与自由放养的威德尔海豹的三维运动相结合，为麦克默多湾的冰下生态系统创建一个视觉表现，并在学生和海洋哺乳动物研究人员身上测试显示的有效性。这项研究将是第一个将电子游戏技术与野生动物的科学数据库结合起来的研究之一，因此既新颖又有风险。由此产生的程序将允许调查人员超越典型的2 - 3参数相关表示，并为各种海洋捕食者开发虚拟环境。它还将为南极生态学和潜水生理学的学生提供一个独特的教学工具。因此，该项目有利于科学、工程和教育领域，为科学数据的呈现提供了一种新颖的方法，并将新的专业知识/视角（视频游戏技术）应用于常见的科学研究问题，这些问题的特点是数据太多，而批判性分析、综合和整合的选择太少。