A visualisation of the global ocean derived from the GEBCO dataset. Rendered at 4k Fulldome resolution.

 

The visualisation is set up as a conundrum: what can be 4.5 billion years old, eternally dark and bitterly cold; always seen and never seen?

 

It's not outer-space but inner-space - and right here on planet Earth. Of course, this is poetic license, but it gets the point across: we think of geopolitical oceans and cartographic fantasies (the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian, the Southern..) - yet in reality, there is only one Ocean, mostly unknown to us, yet seen and exploited everyday.

Hopefully, this is a vision of its alien-ness, to help us see again the familiar in a new and insightful way.

 

The model is derived from current GEBCO data (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans) subtracted from WGS'84 - meaning that this is the ocean volume - the sea - the water - the world of sea-life and unimaginable depths. The physical geography of the Earth is intimated by the shape of water; the sea is a world itself.

Depth is exaggerated for visualisation purposes.

 

A short overview of work-in-progress visualising the GEBCO dataset (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans - gebco.net/ )

The visualisation involved developing a derived dataset from GEBCO in reference to WGS'84 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Geodetic_System), where we have effectively 'removed' the entire Earth - all the continents, islands and geology above and below sea level.

What remains is the ocean - a global ocean that reveals its encompassing interconnectedness. This remarkable view enables us to perceive the complex shape of the sea - and reflects upon our deeply terrestrial view of this volumetric world - which makes up 99% of the living space on the planet.

The model is derived from current high-resolution satellite data, enabling a variety of visualisation techniques to be explored, including 3D rapid prototyping - enabling you to hold the oceans in your hands.

Some experiments using Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Sea Surface Height Anomaly (SSHA) data to create visualisations of the global ocean. The emphasis is upon the Southern hemisphere, looking at ocean circulation around Antarctica.