Physically-based feature tracking for CFD data.

Numerical simulations of turbulent fluid flow in areas ranging from solar physics to aircraft design are dominated by the presence of repeating patterns known as coherent structures. These persistent features are not yet well understood, but are believed to play an important role in the dynamics of turbulent fluid motion, and are the subject of study across numerous scientific and engineering disciplines. To facilitate their investigation a variety of techniques have been devised to track the paths of these structures as they evolve through time.