DOI: 10.1145/325165.325248. Visual simulation of clouds

10.1145/325165.325248

Crossref journal-article

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics (320)

Abstract

Clouds present serious problems to standard computer image generation techniques because clouds do not have well-defined surfaces and boundaries. In addition, clouds contain varying degrees of translucence, and their amorphous structure can change with time. Although several approaches to cloud simulation have produced impressive results, they have relied on complex mathematical models which produce high computation costs for a single image.This paper describes a new approach to cloud simulation using simple planar and curved surfaces whose surface shading and translucence are modulated by a mathematical texturing function. This approach represents the appearance of clouds with enough realism for a wide range of visual simulation but does so at a reasonable computational cost, allowing the generation of sequences of images on small minicomputers. In addition, the cloud model can be constructed in a straightforward manner.

Bibliography

Gardner, G. Y. (1985). Visual simulation of clouds. ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics, 19(3), 297â304.

Authors 1

Geoffrey Y. Gardner (first)

References 10 Referenced 140

10.1145/965145.801255
{'first-page': '239', 'volume-title': 'Proc 1st Interservice/Industry Training Equipment Conf, Orlando, FL (Nov 1979)', 'author': 'Gardner G.Y.', 'key': 'e_1_2_1_2_2'} / Proc 1st Interservice/Industry Training Equipment Conf, Orlando, FL (Nov 1979) by Gardner G.Y.
{'key': 'e_1_2_1_3_2', 'volume': '11', 'author': 'Gardner', 'year': '1983', 'journal-title': 'Non-edge CIG. SIGGRAPH Video Review, Issue'} / Non-edge CIG. SIGGRAPH Video Review, Issue by Gardner (1983)
{'key': 'e_1_2_1_4_2', 'first-page': '79', 'volume-title': 'Proc 1984 IMAGE Ill Conf, Phoenix, AZ (May', 'author': 'Gardner G. Y.', 'year': '1984'} / Proc 1984 IMAGE Ill Conf, Phoenix, AZ (May by Gardner G. Y. (1984)
10.1145/964965.808572
{'key': 'e_1_2_1_6_2', 'volume': '17', 'author': 'Gardner', 'year': '1984', 'journal-title': "Beethoven's Sixth in CIG. SIGGRAPH Video Review, Issue"} / Beethoven's Sixth in CIG. SIGGRAPH Video Review, Issue by Gardner (1984)
10.1145/964965.808594
Mason B.J. The Physics of Clouds. Oxford University Press LOne{on (1957). Mason B.J. The Physics of Clouds. Oxford University Press LOne{on (1957).
10.1145/964967.801142
{'volume-title': "SIGGRAPH '83 Conf, Detroit, MI (Jul", 'year': '1983', 'author': 'Voss R.', 'key': 'e_1_2_1_10_2'} / SIGGRAPH '83 Conf, Detroit, MI (Jul by Voss R. (1983)

Dates

Type	When
Created	19 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 16, 2005, 9:47 a.m.)
Deposited	2 months, 1 week ago (June 18, 2025, 5:41 p.m.)
Indexed	4 days, 20 hours ago (Aug. 27, 2025, 11:57 a.m.)
Issued	40 years, 2 months ago (July 1, 1985)
Published	40 years, 2 months ago (July 1, 1985)
Published Online	40 years, 2 months ago (July 1, 1985)
Published Print	40 years, 2 months ago (July 1, 1985)

Funders 0

None

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