Cinema image-based in situ analysis and visualization of MPAS-ocean simulations

•We created an in situ exploration visualization of an MPAS-Ocean simulation.•We leveraged compositing in Cinema to provide interactive exploration.•We decreased the storage footprint of the analysis and visualization results. Due to power and I/O constraints associated with extreme scale scientific simulations, in situ analysis and visualization will become a critical component to scientific exploration and discovery. Current analysis and visualization options at extreme scale are presented in opposition: write files to disk for interactive, exploratory analysis, or perform in situ analysis to save data products about phenomena that a scientists knows about in advance. In this paper, we demonstrate extreme scale visualization of MPAS-Ocean simulations leveraging a third option based on Cinema, which is a novel framework for highly interactive, image-based in situ analysis and visualization that promotes exploration.