Accuracy in 3D Particle Tracing

This paper presents a novel way of identifying and illustrating the accuracy in the particle tracing method for flow visualization. We make use of explicit Runge-Kutta methods for particle tracing in steady velocity fields, and describe three approaches to estimate the accuracy of the calculated path. These approaches are: re-integration (with smaller tolerance or in a backward direction), global error estimators and residuals in the velocity field. Visualization paradigms are also presented to convey data accuracy information and these ideas are implemented in an Open Inventor / IRIS Explorer environment.