Realistic Simulation of Environmental Phenomena - Snow Fall and Accumulation

One particular case of the intersection between the photorealistic presentation and the dynamics of 3D scene of objects is snow in nature, which presents behavioral aspects of the environment such as accumulation, particle movement, and redistribution, with the added time element that allows change and progress analysis. Due to the complexity of the phenomenon, little to no attention has been given to the realism of the interaction, the attention being channeled only on the visual aspects of it. The focus of this paper is to analyze different approaches of representing snow fall and accumulation effects in real time in such a digital ensemble in order to add a layer of realism and accurately reflect natural processes. The emphasis is put on the actual manifestations that take place in nature and the micro physics that pertain to the processes. Comparisons are made between different existing approaches to snow accumulation and a new particle hierarchy is imposed to suit both the technological requirements and to maintain the realism of scenes.