NavList:

In April 2011, I wrote in a NavList message:
"An elegant animated visualization of the US wind field:
http://hint.fm/wind/
This link is spreading like wildfire --wind-driven wildfire. I've now seen it from four different sources, including R.M. "Max" Maxwell from Mystic Seaport and also from David Burch, who posted it on Facebook last night."

The site that several of you have been talking about (spinning off from the discussion about Matthew Fontaine Maury) located at http://earth.nullschool.net is directly based on this earlier project.

These visualizations are TWO things. First and foremost, they are demonstrations of web technologies, specifically HTML5 and modern Javascript (which is booming again). This kind of impressive animation happens directly in your web browser without external "helper" technologies (like Flash animations). Secondarily, these are interesting experiments in scientific visualization. Literally, that is a SECONDARY goal! They're just incredibly compelling and beautiful, even hypnotic, but the data underlying them is really nothing extraordinary. The global wind field is a prediction product in modern meteorology. You can download it. Then all you have to do is make it look cool. And wow does this ever look cool!

-FER

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