(89b) Beyond the Rainbow: Practical Improvements in the Presentation and Communication of Hazard and Risk Analysis Data

As technology improves and moves forward, so must the ways in which we communicate and present data. All too often, we as engineers, focus primarily on the numbers and neglect how our data is disseminated. Significant cost and effort is put forth to conduct engineering analyses, but the presentation and communication of the results to decision makers typically falls short. It is widely known that we (analysts) are capable of producing massive amounts of data and stuffing them into plot, graphs, and tables throughout hundreds of pages of reports. On the user end, how do we help key decision makers sift through this data, identify the critical parts, and better interpret and understand what we present?

The fundamentals of scientific visualization are primarily concerned with the ability to graphically illustrate scientific data to enable scientists to understand and glean insight into their data. With the continued rapid growth in computational power, the need to move beyond paper reports, tabular data, and rainbow scale contours plotted in two-dimensions is greater than ever. This paper will focus on reviewing the fundamentals and pitfalls of scientific visualization within quantitative hazard and risk analysis and provide practical examples for improvement. An examination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data, mixing of real images and calculated data, and QRA visualization of hazards in 3D with focus on an interactive user review will be presented. Each case will be discussed with real world examples, including a review of successes, failures, and where future improvements can be made.

Keywords: Simulation, QRA, Risk, modeling, hazard analysis