Scientific Data

Editable Link

For this semester, we'll be focusing on finding and evaluating software for exploratory scientific visualization. The data types below can be used in your project and tutorials. Please add more data types and examples as you find them. Be sure to document any data you add to this page in your journal. 

For an abbreviated list of common data types, a brief definition of each type, and recommended/feasible software to use with each type, please see the Software Recommendations by Data Type page.

Please note: many of the following files are very large (we're talking up to around a hundred MB for some of these)! Additionally, this page is a continual work in progress. The categories of data are not exhaustive and are listed in no partincular order, so be prepared for the page to be somewhat messy.

2D Image Data

Description: 2D array of data values that can be reduced to an RGB image before viewing or interactively during viewing.

Data:

• Simple Animals (from Felice Frankel at MIT)

  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/dl9sl80bg84uz84/29%20eleg.%20of%20simple%20animals.tiff?dl=0 

• Cell Image Library - 2D images of many different types of cells

  • Available datasets

• Electron Microscopy Public Image Archive (EMPIAR)

  • Lots of 2D microscopy data

3D Vector Field or Flow Data

Description: A magnitude and direction at each more in 3D space.  Can  be 3D flow.  Can be time-varying.

Data:

• Vibrating Cylinder Flow - George Karniadakis and Zhicheng Wang 

  • Data 

  • Contains 10 .plt files each of which contains 12 components of data: 

    • (x, y, z) position coordinates 

    • (u, v, w) velocity components in the x, y, z directions 

    • p is pressure 

    • Divergence 

    • vorticity_x, vorticity_y, vorticity_z  

    • Q, second invariant of the velocity gradient  

• Building Downwash Simulations

  • https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/building-downwash-large-eddy-simulations 

• Turbulence Decay

  • Update: Link no longer works

Point Cloud Data

Description: data that represents a collection of points in 2D or 3D space.

Data: 

• las files:  Lidar data comes comes in many forms, however, las files are one of the most popular Lidar data formats. An las file is a binary file which contains point cloud data, stored as X, Y, Z coordinates, and a header which contains file metadata, RGB information, GIS information, and many other optional fields.  For more detailed information on las files, see the official las specification. 

• Ecology data from EEB Professor Jim Kellner and postdoc Loren Albert: 

  • More information

  • Data

  • Update: Links no longer work

• Sample NEONDS Sample LiDAR Point Cloud Data:

  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/jqfehbg33ecbm54/NEONDSSampleLiDARPointCloud.las?dl=0

• Sample Velodyne .pcap files:

  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/qr55b0dic58kalq/2014-11-10-10-48-31_Velodyne-VLP_20Hz_Hecker%20Pass.pcap?dl=0

  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/lnitae8v2mhsuhu/2014-11-10-11-32-17_Velodyne-VLP_10Hz_Monterey%20Highway.pcap?dl=0

  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/551iszuxk51wzkm/2014-11-10-10-36-54_Velodyne-VLP_10Hz-County%20Fair.pcap?dl=0

• City of Montreal, Canada LiDAR

  • http://donnees.ville.montreal.qc.ca/dataset/lidar-aerien-2015 (note that this page is written in French)

Point Cloud Visualization Software: 

• lidarview (T)

• CloudCompare

• Displaz (T)

• PPTK (T)

• Open3D (T)

• Veloview (T)

• Potree

Point Cloud Processing Software: 

• liblas

• Pylidar

• Python-PCL  (T)

• Quick Terrain Modeler ($)

• PointSample

Comparisons:

• lidarview vs. Displaz vs. PPTK vs. Open3D

Tutorials: 

• Tutorial on Python-PCL

• Tutorial on Converting .las files to .out files: Laspy Tutorial

• Tutorial on Lidar Paraview to Blender

• Tutorial on viewing .pcap files in Veloview.

Papers:

• Summaries of papers on processing and rendering LiDAR data. 

• Las file specification. 

Planetary Geology Imaging Data

Description: This might be an amalgam of different data types, including collections of stars, collections of galaxies, outward-looking imagery (as from a telescope), or inward looking imagery (as from a satellite of a planet). Some such data is 2D imaging data, but with a particular underlying space, e.g., Earth, the moon, or Mars.

Data:

• NASA Global Imagery Browser Services (GIBS):

  • GIBS is a database of satellite imagery data collected by NASA JPL; the database supports an extensive REST API, however, it can be somewhat complicated to use.

  • GIBS returns satellite data in the form of tiles or maps (in Mercator projection) 

• NASA Earthdata

  • Earthdata is a massive database of atmospheric, land, and ocean data operated by NASA

Software: 

• OpenSpace software views some kinds of data of these types, and it has the potential to generalize to more. It almost runs in the Yurt and does run on desktops and HMD's.

MRI Imaging Data

Description: MRI imaging data comes in many forms, often depending on the type of MRI machine utilized when scanning a patient. Two of the most common MRI data formats are NIfTi and DICOM. Luckily, most MRI processing software can easily convert between these two formats, so we will focus on visualizing and processing only NIfTi files. For an in-depth comparison between NIfTi and DICOM, see Medical Imaging Formats. 

Data:

• Brain Tumor Segmentation Challenge (BRATS) - BRATS is a comprehensive MRI brain tumor data set comprised of 243 MRI scans, expertly labeled based on tumor pathology.

• Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)  - ADNI contains a collection of over 3000 MRI scans of Alzheimer's patients, captured over several years and with varying MRI scanners.

  • Note that both the BRATS and ADNI data sets are not public and must be requested.

• OpenNeuro is a free and open platform allows users to share data, get data, and use data that is BIDS-compliant MRI, PET, MEG, EEG, and iEEG data. The BIDS stands for the Brain Imaging Data Structure, the emerging standard for the organization of neuroimaging data.

  • MRI Imaging [18F]AV-1451 and [18F]AV-45 in acute and chronic traumatic brain injury

  • The Stockholm Sleepy Brain Study: Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Young and Old

Software: 

• Freesurfer

• 3D Slicer

• Advanced Normalization Tools (ANTs)

• ParaView

• MEDICALHOLODECK

• SyGlass View

Papers: 

• Human brain functional MRI and DTI visualization with virtual reality: an in-depth overview of VR visualization of MRI data. 

• The Multimodal Brain Tumor Image Segmentation Benchmark (BRATS): an overview of the BRATS data set. 

• Medical Imaging Formats: a comprehensive comparison of the most popular MRI data formats. 

Similar to: 

• CLARITY Brain Imaging

• CT Brain imaging

Network Data

Data:

• Twitter API

  • Probably the easiest social media API to use; clearly defined data types and properties (just Tweets associated with users and their info)

  • Access Tweets in realtime; filter by many different properties

  • Access previous Tweets for other types of analysis

  • See a realtime visualization using Twitter API

  • Apply for Twitter Developer tools here

[2023 Feb. Update Regarding Twitter API]

• Starting February 9, Twitter ended its free access offering. With Twitter API ver.2, we will get 3 tiers (one coming soon)

• The price for these tiers are TBD according to Twitter's official documentation as of 2023.2.24

  • Essential Plan will offer 

    • 1 project 

    • 1 app per project 

    • retrieving up to 500k Tweets per month 

    • Access to Twitter API v2  and standard v1.1 

    • No access to Twitter API premium v1.1  and enterprise 

  • Elevated Plan will offer 

    • 1 project 

    • 3 apps per project 

    • retrieving up to 3 million Tweets per month

    • Access to API standard 1.1, premium v1.1, enterprise 

  • Academic Research 

    • 1 project 

    • 1 App per project 

    • retrieve up to 10 million Tweets per month 

    • Access to API standard 1.1, premium v1.1, enterprise

• Details on these access levels can be found here

• 2012 US election tweets - Microsoft Research

  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=52598 

• Daily geolocated tweets - Microsoft Research

  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=57387 

• Microsoft Research Other Datasets

• Citation network dataset 

  • https://lfs.aminer.cn/misc/dblp.v11.zip 

  • Contains citation data extracted from Microsoft Academic Graph and other academic databases

• DIMACS Shortest Path Challenge - Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer science

  • Update: Link no longer works

  • Graph data that models distances between many major U.S. towns and cities (23,947,347 nodes)

• US Flight Data (1990 - 2009)

  • http://academictorrents.com/details/a2ccf94bbb4af222bf8e69dad60a68a29f310d9a 

Polygonal Model Data 

Description: 3D data stored as polygonal meshes

Found in many 3D file extensions that hold 3d data points: OBJ, DAE, FBX, etc

Programs that use and view polygonal model data that could be YURT usable:

• Unity, Blender, Unreal, Paraview

Unlikely to be YURT usable:

• Maya, Adobe Dimension

Data:

• YURT Supernova (from Elaine Jiang)

  • https://github.com/elainejiang8/MinVR-VTK/tree/master/data

• World Vector Shorelines 

  • http://www.earthmodels.org/data-and-tools/coastlines/World_Vector_Shorelines.vtp 

  • Update: Link no longer works

  • Surface model of the world's shorelines

• City of Adelaide 3D Model

  • https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/3d-model 

• Open City Model

  • https://github.com/opencitymodel/opencitymodel 

• Smithsonian Open Access

  • https://www.si.edu/openaccess

• RISD Nature Lab models

  • https://sketchfab.com/RISDNaturelab 

  • RISD hosts a growing library of their nature lab models, which are available to see in person at the Nature Lab, or online in Sketchfab. They have a wide variety of uses for the digital collection and they keep track of those who reach out and provide feedback on their model. The collection is not complete, but they’re slowly scanning and uploading models for each item they have at the lab. 

Time Series Data

Description: Series of data points indexed by time.

Data:

• CIT time series data

  • https://github.com/crottyan/mgbench 

• Human heart rate data - MIT

  • Series 1 and Series 2; collected from two different human subjects 

• Global Forest Watch

  • https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/global/?location=WyJnbG9iYWwiXQ%3D%3D 

Genomics Data

Description: Data that captures various genetic information such as variances in genome sequences, DNA sequences, and other genetics information 

Data:

• Genome variant calls of chromosome 22 - Microsoft Research

  • https://msropendata.com/datasets/0d473c7f-6ddf-4881-aa6d-5ef048e7eaf5 

• 1000 Genomes (full genomes with population, location metadata)

  • https://www.internationalgenome.org/home

• Microsoft Genomics Data Lake

  • https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/open-datasets/dataset-genomics-data-lake

RGB-D

Description: Output from cameras with proximity sensors contain an extra channel for depth. Its value ranges from 0-255 just like color. It is often visualized alone as grayscale. 

Data:

• https://sumochallenge.org has output from a 360º scan around a room

World Cities Environmental Data

Refer to Postman Scraping with Ambee for more info on how to load data easily (may need to create new temp email account if calls to API exceed free version limits)

Global Forest Watch

Description:  Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an online platform that provides data and tools for monitoring forests. By harnessing cutting-edge technology, GFW allows anyone to access near real-time information about where and how forests are changing around the world. Important founding partners are Google, USAID, Univeristy of Maryland, Esri. 

Data Type:  

• Forest Change

  • Tree Cover lost 

  • Tree Cover gain

• Land Use

• Conservation

• People 

• Forest Cover

Data Portal Link

CSV Data

Liza Kolev 2023

Description: A comma-separated values file is a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. Each line of the file is a data record. Each record consists of one or more fields, separated by commas. 

Data:

• Renewable Internal Freshwater Resources Across World

  • Only has data for 2007, 2012, and 2014 (when looked at in 2023)

• Percentage Population Using Safely Managed Water Services Across World

CSV for VR Discussion Page

Shapefile Data

Liza Kolev 2023

Description: The shapefile format is a geospatial vector data format for geographic information system software. It is developed and regulated by Esri as a mostly open specification for data interoperability among Esri and other GIS software products. 

Data:

• Natural Earth Data

  • World boundaries that you can download according to how specific and labeled you want it to be

  • Data will download in a zip file with different kinds of datasets. Shapefile ends in .shp.

Soccer/Football Data

• StatsBomb Open Data 

Transit Data

Connor Flick, 03/10/2025

Description: Data measuring commute times, congestion, or incidents on road and commute networks. Data may be real-time (by connecting to an API) or aggregated, providing information over time. This data may integrate well with maps or Geospatial data and models.

Data:

• Manhattan Congestion Pricing Data, commute times for selected routes

  • Certain endpoints (/routes.xlsx, /routes_janurary.xlsx, /routes_2024.xlsx) can be used to extract data for different timescales

• MTA Vechicle Entries into Manhattan Congestion Relief Zone

• MTA metrics for public transit

• Mapbox Traffic Data

• US DOT Highway Travel Data

• Boston Traffic-Related Data

• NHSTA Datasets

• NTSB Datasets

Water Resources Data

Aarav Kumar, 03/10/2025

• World Bank Data (1992 - 2014) - Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita (by country, 1997-2014)

• Worldometers - Water Use by Country  (yearly and daily water use by country in m^3)

• FAO Aquastat Data - Water-use data by country and year 

  • Better summarized by the World Population Review (total water withdrawal per capita by country in billion m^3, 2020)

• OECD - Water Withdrawal Data (per capita by country in million m^3, 2021)

Bird Migration Data

Colby Rees, 04/02/2025

• eBird data on birds spotted at specific locations, during specific months

  • Create an account, then request access to the data. Include a brief description of how you plan to use the data. The request should be approved within a few days. 

  • https://ebird.org/data/download

• Movebank: Animal migration data

• Data Zone by Bird Life: bird species and location data 

• Macaulay Library Cornell Lab: bird sounds

MIDI DATA

Description: MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) data allows musical instruments and other hardware to communicate with each other. MIDI holds information on notes and how they are played (for example note on, velocity, modulation, note duration, note off, etc.). In this form, MIDI attemps to digitally communicate the features of a musical performance.

Details of MIDI in VR, see this link

Details of MIDI standard and computer music, see this link