A Journey Through Clouds

Juraj is a PhD candidate in the Visualization group at UiB’s Institute of Informatics. He holds a MSc in Computer Graphics and BSc in Physics from the Masaryk University in Brno. He is working on applying mathematical methods in scientific visualization, in particular the use of implicit surfaces in visual parameter space analysis. In his collaboration with the Geophysical Institute he is working on developing and validating a model of atmospheric convection. He is also a member of the gLidar project aimed at multimodal observation and analysis of atmospheric convection using paragliders and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems.

Abstract: Clouds are a major part of everyday landscape, they tell a complex story about the weather, and have significant influence on the mood of a scene, yet their visual representation in real-time computer graphics remained a challenge for a long time. Traditional approaches rely on two dimensional textures, for painting the skies, however, this approach fails when clouds are a major part of the scene, such as in flight simulators or mountainous areas. Recent performance boosts in the graphics hardware enabled cloud rendering based on volumetric density functions that deliver more realistic images. These volumetric clouds can be integrated with weather systems, hand-designed by artists, or faked using procedural noise functions. In my talk I will introduce the atmospheric physics responsible for cloud formation, their optical properties, and give an overview of the current rendering techniques used in the industry.