Visualizing Vector Fields: the Thick Oriented Stream-Line Algorithm (TOSL)

The visualization of dense vector fields has important applications for scientific purposes. Beyond the standard methods, such as arrows and particle tracing, texture-based methods are able to show almost all the details of a field. This paper presents the Thick Oriented Stream-Line (TOSL) algorithm, which can show direction, orientation and local flow speed even for dense vector fields by simulating the convolution process. A practical comparison of the performances of TOSL vs. other visualizations algorithms (LIC and fastLIC) shows that the proposed algorithm can provide output textures faster than the other considered techniques.