Flow field visualization using vector field perpendicular surfaces

Abstract

This paper introduces Vector Field Perpendicular Surfaces as a means to represent vector data with special focus on variations across the vectors in the field. These surfaces are a perpendicular analogue to streamlines, with the vector data always being parallel to the normals of the surface. In this way the orientation of the data is conveyed to the viewer, while providing a continuous representation across the vectors of the field. This paper describes the properties of such surfaces including an issue with helicity density in the vector data, an approach to generating them, several stop conditions and special means to handle also fields with non-zero helicity density.