Image Credit: Visualizing Air Quality Model Runs, Credit: Scientific Visualization Studio & Global Modeling Assimilation Office, NASA
At SIGGRAPH 2025, a multidisciplinary team of artists, engineers, and data visualization experts from NASA demonstrated their process for creating large-scale data-driven media that engages with a diverse audience, making scientific breakthroughs accessible for all.
We caught up with Helen-Nicole (Eleni) Kostis, Zoey Armstrong, and Kel Elkins, all team members of the Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and presenters of the SIGGRAPH 2025 Production Session, “Bringing NASA Data to Life: The Power of Visualizing Science.” Grab your notebooks; let’s prepare for an out-of-this-world discussion!
SIGGRAPH: Your SIGGRAPH 2025 Production Session presents how NASA Earth science reaches global audiences through compelling data-driven visualizations. Can you provide some background on this initiative? What was the inspiration for NASA to develop these visualizations and share them with the world?
Zoey Armstrong (ZA): Science is complex topic, and there’s a tremendous value to making the results approachable by anyone.
Kel Elkins (KE): Public engagement, education, and science communication are all key parts of NASA’s mission. There’s a lot of incredible work happening across NASA, and our job as data visualizers is to make that work more visible, understandable, and engaging for general audiences.
Eleni Kostis (EK): The Scientific Visualization Studio has a rich tradition of creating and sharing data visualizations that make NASA’s scientific discoveries accessible to everyone, openly and freely. Through these visualizations, we invite the world to join us on a visual journey of scientific discovery, technological achievements and exploration.
The inspiration stems from one of our core missions: To benefit humankind through scientific knowledge. Transforming complex Earth science data into visually compelling and understandable narratives helps people connect with our planet in profound ways, fostering greater awareness of Earth’s systems and how NASA’s efforts impact lives.
In our SIGGRAPH 2025 Production Session, we highlight and focus on recent developments created specifically for NASA’s Earth Information Center and its large-scale, wall-sized displays and exhibits. These immersive installations are available at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian) in D.C., and the Kennedy Space Visitor Center in Florida, where they reach new audiences every day. By transforming satellite data, scientific models, and ground observations into compelling visual narratives, we strive to share NASA’s latest scientific achievements in ways that inspire, engage, and hopefully spark awe and curiosity about our planet.
SIGGRAPH: As scientific data grows increasingly complex and voluminous, how does that impact your workflow? How is your team continuing to adapt to more complex data?
ZA: More complex data requires better planning and an increased level of connection with the science teams producing the data to make sure we are correctly capturing everything in the visualization.
KE: As science data becomes higher in both spatial and temporal resolution, it brings new challenges. Larger datasets can push the limits of memory, computer power, and storage. We’re constantly refining our pipelines and adopting new formats to handle these demands more efficiently. But the core goal stays the same: To tell a clear, compelling story with the data. Sometimes that means focusing on a specific event or feature rather than showing the entire dataset at full resolution.
EK: It inspires us to be creative, pushes us to improve our workflows, and helps us stretch in new directions.
SIGGRAPH: This session reveals the processes of creating visualizations of atmospheric phenomena using state-of-the-art models. Can you speak to this and inform the audience about these processes?
KE: Our process is highly collaborative from start to finish. We work closely with mission scientists, science writers, and producers to shape a clear story and ensure accuracy. Scientific data is translated into formats compatible with 3D graphics tools like Houdini and Maya. In these environments, we craft visual elements such as textures, point clouds, and volumes based on the input data. We continue to iterate with the science team to make sure the visuals remain grounded in the data while being clear and engaging for a broad audience
EK: At the heart of this work is NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), which performs research and develops state-of-the-art models that ingest satellite observations with the goal to create comprehensive simulations of Earth’s systems.
Thanks to the incredible support from Scientist Lesley Ott and Chief Software Engineer Joseph (Joe) Ardizzone from GMAO, over the last few years we have developed a suite of visualizations that bring complex datasets to life.
Some of these visualizations are daily outputs from the continuously running Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model. Thanks to Joe, we have developed automatic workflows that update every night on the DISCOVER supercomputer, processing model output, so that we share with the world views of our planet as it is today.
We also conduct deep dives on complex visualization productions where we visualize specialized high-fidelity model runs of intricate phenomena. For example, for the visualization the Different Sources of Atmospheric Methane, we processed and visualized model output data to show how emissions from industry, agriculture, fires, wetlands, and other natural sources move through the atmosphere over the course of a year. Other productions include DYAMOND Global Carbon Dioxide, GEOS Aerosols, and Air Quality Model Runs to name a few.
SIGGRAPH: Stepping away from the session specifically, you share complex data in an exciting visualization with the world. What is your favorite part of your work? Are there any specific visualizations that you enjoyed working on the most?
ZA: My favorite part of the work is bringing clarity to complex subjects. There is important science being done all the time, but it matters less if it remains in a bubble. I find it really gratifying to help bring that science to new audiences. I’m particularly proud of my work with wildfire visualizations, both creating an automated pipeline for large wildfires and work at Navteca on the dynamics of the Palisades and Eaton wildfires.
KE: My favorite part of this work is the challenge of turning complex scientific data into something that’s easy to understand and visually compelling. If the audience can grasp and appreciate the science through the visuals, that’s a win. I especially enjoy working with high-resolution datasets that allow for intricate, detailed imagery. One example I’m particularly proud of is a visualization of global vegetation height data from NASA’s GEDI instrument on the ISS. The data was massive and tough to process, but when paired with the right color bar, the result made global patterns of vegetation instantly understandable.
EK: I just love the entire process of bringing visualization projects to life while working alongside amazing teams and learning from them. The collaborative aspect is what makes this work so rewarding — it’s like we’re all riding the same wave together, each person contributing their expertise to create something bigger than what any of us could accomplish alone. Whether it’s working with scientists to understand complex systems, collaborating with data and model experts, or partnering with outreach teams to make the content accessible, every project is a team effort. One of the most meaningful and challenging has been the automated pipeline of “Daily Visualizations of the Largest Wildfires in the United States“, as it stretched our visualization capacity and highlighted the wide range of challenges of visualizing events as they happen.
SIGGRAPH: If there is something that you wish viewers and blog readers take away from your work, what would it be?
ZA: Science doesn’t have to be scary, and there are lots of amazing projects going on right now.
KE: My goal is to take complex science and translate it into something visual and approachable. If the viewer walks away understanding a bit more than they did before, then it’s a success.
EK: I hope viewers and blog readers take away something often overlooked — the incredible human collaboration and decades of dedication behind every visualization.
To me, the visualizations represent the culmination of decades of effort from engineering and scientific teams. They capture the entire journey of a mission or program from initial inspiration through launch, data collection, and scientific discovery. I want people to recognize that behind each visualization are countless engineers, scientists, and mission teams who collaborated long before the visualization was even created. These visualizations are only possible because of the incredible achievements that came before. The visualizations are NASA’s collective outcomes.
Let’s make our way back to earth following a wonderful discussion with Eleni, Zoey, and Kel! As Zoey said, there are a lot of major projects going on and there are no shortage of amazing work at SIGGRAPH. Do you have a project you want to showcase at SIGGRAPH 2026? Submissions are opening soon! Be on the lookout for more information.
Helen-Nicole (Eleni) Kostis leads data dashboards and visualization production for NASA’s Earth Information Center large-scale wall displays. Based at the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Eleni designs, develops and produces data-driven media and experiences with the goal to communicate complex science phenomena and research findings to the scientific communities and the public. Eleni is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Award for Outreach.
Zoey Armstrong: Data visualization specialist with a passion for tackling environmental issues. I come from a background in biology and earned a master’s degree in geography at Miami University, where I developed into data scientist and programmer. Despite a heavy science background, I try to bring my art side into my work by transforming environmental data into compelling and engaging visual stories. I’ve used these skills at Navteca to create immersive 3D wildfire visualizations that help showcase the factors contributing to large-scale fire events. And at the Scientific Visualization Studio, I’ve continued this line of work by developing both interactive exhibits and traditional visualizations stories focused on fires, sea level rise, and near real time disasters dashboards.
Kel Elkins is a Senior Data Visualization Programmer with NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. He works with scientists to visualize data from NASA missions, including both observational data (e.g., from satellites and aircraft) and supercomputer simulations. These visualizations promote a greater understanding of Earth and Space Science research activities at NASA. Prior to joining NASA, Kel worked at an aerospace software company, specializing in communicating complex technical concepts related to spacecraft and aircraft mission planning. Kel holds a master’s degree in Computer Science and Game Technology from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State.
