  The ISO/IEC JPEG 2000 image coding standard is a family of source coding
algorithms targeting high-resolution image communications. JPEG 2000 features
highly scalable embedded coding features that allow one to interactively zoom
out to reduced resolution thumbnails of enormous data sets or to zoom in on
highly localized regions of interest with very economical communications and
rendering requirements. While intended for fixed-precision input data, the
implementation of the irreversible version of the standard is often done
internally in floating point arithmetic. Moreover, the standard is designed to
support high-bit-depth data. Part 2 of the standard also provides support for
three-dimensional data sets such as multicomponent or volumetric imagery. These
features make JPEG 2000 an appealing candidate for highly scalable
communications coding and visualization of two- and three-dimensional data
produced by scientific simulation software. We present results of initial
experiments applying JPEG 2000 to scientific simulation data produced by the
Parallel Ocean Program (POP) global ocean circulation model, highlighting both
the promise and the many challenges this approach holds for scientific
visualization applications.
