An approach to the simulation of the sea as participating medium

Abstract The creation and rendering of realistic water scenes is a challenging task in Computer Graphics. Algorithms that reproduce the illumination and colour inside water bodies must be able to handle anisotropic media and multiple scattering. This study focuses on solving the problem of light transport using the discrete ordinates method. A general system is presented that can generate qualitative and detailed quantitative information, such as the amount of light that reaches the boundaries of the medium or that is absorbed in each voxel. It provides a quantitative estimate of the calculation error involved during the illumination calculation and can deal with anisotropic as well as highly peaked phase functions, including the spectral behaviour of the characteristic parameters of the medium. Surfaces within the medium can be taken into account, as well as their contribution to the radiance distribution. The system was applied to the oceanic medium and several simple images were calculated in different types of water. The results indicate that image generation is strongly affected by the spectral behaviour of the absorption and scattering coefficients and the correct treatment of phase functions.

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